Harry Potter and the Haunting Eyes
by talulahbridge
Summary: Follow up to finally, The anniversary and The Price of Love, Ginny and Harry's married life is going well, but will it stay that way? Harry is passionate about his work but will his latest assignment spell more heartache for he and his wife? Read on!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own none of Harry's world, I just want to write in it!**

**For those of you who said you would be happy to read more, here is the first chapter of my new story, this will definately be the last in this series as I really can't take it any furthur, there's a lot more going on in this one so I hope you enjoy it, I will try to update as often as possible but that will probably be easier after Christmas! So please read and review and let me know what you think!**

**Thanks x x**

Chapter 1

Harry looked down into the deep, chocolate brown eyes of the beautiful redhead in his arms and smiled before a wistful look crossed his face. A frown crossed Ginny's when she saw the change on his and she whispered, "What's the matter?"

"I just wish our day had been like this," he gestured to the people enjoying themselves at the wedding of his two best friends.

"We did," she replied smiling wryly knowing that Harry was still beating himself up over their wedding, "It was perfect." He looked down into her eyes again and smiled, "You keep saying that, but-" she cut him off putting her hand on his chest lightly, "Harry, stop it, it was perfect because you married me, nothing else mattered, how many times do I have to tell you that? We got married, we had a party and that was that please stop beating yourself up over it." She smiled at him again and he melted as a broad grin spread across his face. He knew he'd never stop beating himself up for what he did, but he also knew she'd never stop telling him that it didn't matter, that was Ginny and it was one of the many things that he loved about her. "Have I told you how beautiful you look today?" he asked putting his forehead against hers and continuing to sway her around on the dance floor.

"Only a few hundred times," she replied, "But you can keep on telling me if you like!"

"You look really beautiful today, Mrs Potter," he grinned and she giggled again as he called her by her married name, she loved being Mrs Potter and loved the fact that Harry reminded her of it day after day after day.

"You look rather handsome yourself, Mr Potter," she said and laughed as he continued to swing her around.

"Stop being so sickly you two," said a voice from their left, they both looked up into the eyes of Harry's best friend and Ginny's brother, Ron. "You're giving men a bad name Harry, all the women expect us to keep up with you!"

"Hey look," Harry retorted, "Nobody needs to keep up with me, I don't think anyone in the world has made as many mistakes with a woman as I have, I'm just making up for it," he looked at Ginny with a twinkle in his eye and she sighed but smiled at him.

"Oh it's getting as old as 'The boy who lived' that one," Ron scoffed chuckling at his best friend, "Will you ever get over it? We'll be calling you 'The boy who almost didn't marry my sister but did in the end' before long!"

"No, I won't get over it," Harry replied with a chuckle and then looked into the eyes of the woman he loved once more, "No matter what she says to me."

"Oh brother," Ron said, "I'm off to find my wife!"

Harry and Ginny laughed as they continued to twirl around on the dance floor, it had been a wonderful day for Ron and Hermione, they hadn't waited long after Ginny and Harry's wedding to get themselves married, managing to organise everything in just three months and now here they were, all four of them, married and happy. Harry knew as he looked at his wife once more that he had made the right decision in marrying her, he couldn't visualise his life without her anymore and still couldn't imagine where he had found the strength to tell her he wouldn't marry her three months ago. His life was perfect, he carried the deluminator everywhere he went so he could find Ginny whenever he needed to and he had only used it once or twice to appear in the shower with her (well it had to be tested!)

The band finished playing and people began to return to their seats, Mr Weasley was clinking a spoon against his glass and calling for speeches which meant that Harry had to go up and give a best man's speech again. Ginny took a seat with Hermione and Ron while Harry went up to the small stage where the band had been playing.

"Good evening everyone," he began and then coughed. "Well I need to start with the usual thank yous on behalf of Ron and Hermione for joining them on this special day, a day which admittedly most of us thought would never come around as it took Ron so bloody long to ask her!" laughter flowed around the room as Ron's face turned beetroot red and George shouted from the back, "Here, here!" Hermione placed her hand over Ron's and smiled at him. "But anyway," Harry continued, "I was chuffed to bits when Ron asked me to be his best man, these two," he gestured to Ron and Hermione, "Have been my best friends practically since our first day at Hogwarts, and though it wasn't that obvious to them I think the rest of us knew they were destined to end up together since around our fourth year, it just took another three years for them both to realise it!" Everyone laughed again and the happy couple looked sheepishly at each other. "Anyway, they finally did, albeit in the middle of the final battle, but hey, they pick their moments I mean when does he propose? When the rest of the family are wallowing in sadness and they can't tell anyone, but then that's Ron isn't it?" Harry had shot a guilty look at his wife when he'd mentioned the wallowing in sadness and she had sighed at him once more, "Anyway I'm sure everyone will agree that they make a wonderful couple and that today on her wedding day Hermione looks absolutely stunning," a round of applause erupted and he paused before continuing, "And Ron, well he just looks stunned!" raucous laughter followed this comment and Harry had to chuckle to himself. "It is also my official duty to mention the bridesmaids, Luna and Ginny who look absolutely beautiful and I have to thank them on behalf of the happy couple too," he was interrupted by a shout from the back of the room, "I bet you'll thank one of them very well later Mr Potter!" another round of laughter accompanied Harry's face as it turned bright red, "Yes…Er…Thankyou." He was well aware that all of Ginny's family were in the room and although they were now married he still became a little uncomfortable with these kinds of comments. "So…" he went on desperate to change the subject, "Let's raise our glasses and make a toast to the wonderful couple, Ron and Hermione!"

"Ron and Hermione," came a resounding echo around the room accompanied by much clinking of glasses. Harry stepped down from the small stage and made his way back to his wife and two best friends, who were being congratulated once more by dozens of different people, he took hold of Ginny's hand and gently tugged her away from the crowds and off to a quiet corner. "So how long before I can thank you personally for being such a beautiful bridesmaid to my two best friends?" he asked with a familiar twinkle in his eye, "I know a nice little spot over by the trees, I've tried it out before and it's very secluded!"

"Harry," she chuckled pretending to push him away with her hand, "Do you ever have anything else on your mind?"

"It's not my fault you have such a perfect body that I feel the need to look at it and touch it all the time, God you drive me insane sometimes just standing in front of me," he leaned forwards and slipped his hand around her back pulling her close to him so he could smell her flowery scent in her hair, "I just can't concentrate sometimes!" Ginny giggled at him and replied, "Later, Harry!" walking past him and swinging her hips seductively knowing full well that he was watching her walk away, she turned around and smiled at him and he groaned inwardly before following her back to their table where Ron and Hermione were now seated waiting for their wedding breakfast.

The rest of the evening passed in a whirlwind of eating, dancing and drinking and Harry barely let Ginny out of his reach, he always felt the need to hold onto her whenever they were together as if she might disappear again if he didn't. The protective side of Harry was always a little on edge whenever he let her go somewhere without him, he knew he couldn't tie her to him all day or make her live a life where she was constantly watched but he always had a slight sense of unease in his belly and still occasionally thought back on whether he had made the right decision in marrying her, but one look at the beautiful girl who loved him so much would make him realise that he had. Dumbledore, and everyone else for that matter, had been right about it and he had never been happier in his whole life than he was right now. His life was not destined to be easy and they both knew that but they would face any challenges together and they both had a supportive network of family and friends to support them if the worst ever happened to either of them. He was immensely grateful to this network as between them they did make sure that Ginny was barely alone outside of their home; and although Ginny could find this irritating at times she knew Harry was looking out for her and it was the only way he could make peace with having married her and possibly placed her in danger, so she put up with it knowing that they all did it because they cared about her so much.

At around midnight Ginny hugged her best friend and brother before heading back to the table where Harry was sat watching her intently with a soft smile on his face and a lustful look in his eyes, "I'm not going to disappear you know," she said softly dropping onto his knees and putting her arms around his neck. He slid one hand around her waist and rested the other on her knee, "But I do like it when you watch me," she finished kissing him on the forehead gently.

"I can't help it, sometimes I can't get over how beautiful you are, and sometimes I can't believe you took me back, twice!" she smiled at him and kissed him once more.

"You look tired," he said in a concerned tone, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, it's just been a long day," she replied, "It's been a long week actually, especially with a 'pre-wedding' Hermione to look after and placate, in fact the last three months have been pretty tiring, well ever since our honeymoon anyway!" she raised her eye suggestively as she thought back on their three weeks alone in Romania. The Ministry and St Mungos had both given Harry and Ginny an extra week off after the kidnapping and they had decided to stay an extra week by themselves at the log cabin. The skiing had been fun though they spent more time on their bottoms than on the skis, Harry had managed to perfect some kind of technique though Ginny was sure some form of magic had been involved. They had spent most of their time alone in the cabin, or out in expensive restaurants, eating lavish meals and drinking expensive wine and never taking their eyes off each other. The cabin had been extremely romantic with an open fire like the one they had at home, squashy cushions had covered a large and comfortable couch and a large fake fur rug stretched out luxuriously in front of the fire. They had spent many naked nights on the rug in front of the fire making love to each other, Harry had apologised over and over again, saying he couldn't believe what he had done and where he had found the strength from to do it, and Ginny had spent all her time telling him over and over that all that mattered was that they were now married. They had both thoroughly enjoyed being completely on their own for the first time without any interruptions, Ron had been warned on pain of death that no one was to disturb them unless it was a dire emergency and Hermione had made sure that anyone needing to contact them for any reason was to come to her first and she would assess whether or not it was important. Fortunately no one had needed to contact them and everyone was keen that they spent time alone together and undisturbed, Harry had sent his patronus every few days to let them know everything was okay but apart from that they had been completely by themselves and isolated from the rest of the world and they had loved every minute. Of course eventually they had had to return to the real world and go back to their jobs, Ginny had promised she would stay away from dark and lonely alleys and went to work via the floo network for every shift, Harry had practically glued the deluminator to his side and continued to work on capturing the remaining death eaters still hiding out somewhere in the world. Then the plans and preparations for Ron and Hermione's wedding had begun in earnest and they had found that they had had little time for each other once again as work and plans got in the way, in fact today had been the first time since their honeymoon that they had been in such close proximity to each other for a such an amount of time without one of them being asleep.

"Can we go home?" Ginny asked leaning her head against Harry's shoulder.

"I thought you'd never ask!" he replied, "Shall we apparate?"

"Ahmmm," she responded dreamily closing her eyes, "But can you take both of us? I'm so exhausted."

"Of course, Mrs Potter, come on," he pushed her onto her feet and they went to say goodnight to the happy couple and Ginny's parents before Harry apparated them both back to Grimmauld place. They had decided to move into the house that Sirius had left him when they had returned from their honeymoon, as it was unplottable and no longer being used as headquarters since the demise of Lord Voldemort, Ginny and Harry had both decided it would be a safer place to live. They had given it a complete overhaul, getting rid of the drab and dreary interior and replacing it with a more appealing one of their own choosing. Kreacher had even told them how to remove the permanent sticking charm that had been placed upon the portrait of Sirius' mother and that along with the heads of all the house elves had been removed from the house. It had taken on a more homely feel and appearance over the last three months and Harry was beginning to regard it as a home where he could hopefully bring up a family with the woman he loved. They had even removed the Black family tree which had had the same permanent sticking charm as the portrait and they had begun a tree of their own, the Potter/Weasley tree had all of their immediate family on it including Harry's parents, they had also managed to put Remus, Tonks and Teddy on the tree along with Sirius. Remus and Sirius appeared as James' brothers when you looked at the tree and Harry thought that the three of the marauders would be happy with that if they had been alive to see it. The tree was magically imbibed so a new family member would be added automatically if a wedding or a birth took place, before they went to bed they looked in on the drawing room where the tree was to see that Hermione's name had appeared at the end of a golden line joining her to Ronald Weasley.

"Come along, Mrs Potter," she smiled again at the name, "You look fit to drop, I think my," he coughed, "Urges, will have to wait until morning!"

Ginny looked at him with amusement and he picked her up to carry her to their bedroom, rather than the master bedroom at the top of the house, they had decided to take Sirius' old bedroom as it already had a lived in homely feel to it before they had decorated it themselves. Ginny was asleep in his arms before they reached the bedroom so Harry laid her down gently on the bed and removed her dress and underwear. He pulled the covers back and placed her in the bed pulling them up around her and tucking them in tight, she sighed and Harry looked at her again, he was so happy he felt he could burst and he just hoped that nothing was going to come along and spoil it for them. He quickly undressed and jumped into bed beside his sleeping wife moving close to her he slipped an arm over her from behind and snuggled down resting his chin against her shoulder Harry was out for the count before he knew it.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The following morning Harry woke up slowly as he felt a small, delicate hand tousling his messy hair, he sighed dreamily and opened one eye to look at his beautiful wife who was looking down at him, she was propped up on her other arm and had a playful smile on her face.

"Is there something I can help you with?" he asked rubbing his eyes and turning onto his back for a long stretch, Ginny let go of his hair and started to trace her fingers down his face, neck and chest coming to rest somewhere just above his naval.

"Not really," she chuckled playfully sliding her fingernails gently up and down below his belly button, reaching a little lower each time and driving him crazy, something he knew she enjoyed doing to him. "I was just thinking of getting up and making breakfast actually," she continued pulling her hand up and making to get out of the bed. He turned swiftly onto his side and grabbed her around the waist with both hands, pulling her gently but forcefully down with her back on the bed, she giggled at him and he lowered his lips to hers giving her a long and sensual kiss. The kiss deepened and his hands began to explore her naked body making her back rise and fall in intervals as her breathing quickened, after a few minutes she rolled him over and moved her own body over his, his hands travelled up and down her back as they continued to kiss each other passionately.

It was another half hour later before they finally made it out of bed Ginny walked to her wardrobe to find something to wear and Harry came up behind her, still naked, and slipped his arms around her waist, crossing them over her belly he began to kiss her neck gently whispering, "Do you know how much I love you?"

"Yes," she breathed back softly, enjoying the feel of his lips on her skin.

"Then can't we just stay in here all day?" he asked, she turned around in his arms to see his puppy dog eyes staring down at her.

"You know I'd love to do nothing else, Harry, but we have to be at the Burrow in half an hour to see Ron and Hermione off and then have brunch with the rest of the family."

"I love your family so much Ginny, but why does everything have to be followed by a seeing off and then another meal?" he whined, but she knew he was only joking Harry would never miss a Weasley gathering, they were the closest family he had ever had and becoming a proper member of it by marrying Ginny was almost as much of a reward to him as marrying her and having her as his wife for the rest of his life. She kissed him once more and then he reluctantly let her go so she could shower and dress, he threw on some clothes of his own and made his way downstairs to the kitchen where Kreacher was busy making coffee.

"Good morning Mr Potter, sir," he said, "Kreacher is making coffee for the young sir and his wife, will you be needing breakfast also, sir?"

"Kreacher, you really don't have to call me sir."

"Kreacher is sorry, sir…I mean Mr Potter, sir, oh sorry…" he ran for the nearest frying pan and Harry was only just quick enough to grab it out of his hands before he began to hit himself with it.

"Kreacher, NO!" Harry bellowed and the poor creature cowered, "You don't have to do that anymore, and especially not for calling me sir," he finished gently and the elf stopped cowering at him.

"Kreacher is sorry s…s… Mr Potter, Kreacher forgets," he smiled curiously at Harry, "Kreacher was a house elf for so long, it is hard to forget the old ways s…Mr Potter," he ran forwards with the coffee pot and filled Harry's cup immediately, "Will s… sorry, Mr Potter be needing anything today from Kreacher?"

"We are going to the Burrow today Kreacher and I'm sure Molly will feed us up for the day, so we won't require anything to eat later, we can make a snack ourselves if we feel like it."

"Very good s… Sorry Mr Potter, then I shall see to cleaning out the upper bedrooms for you and Mrs Potter, if that is what Mr Potter wants."

"Thank you Kreacher, that would be very good of you, but don't go overdoing it, take it steady and make sure you rest okay? That's an order, stop for at least five minutes once an hour." Kreacher had been a house elf for a long time, he was one of the older ones who had found it difficult to accept the new changes and freedoms they were given by the wizarding world. The aging elf had continued to work at Hogwarts until Harry and Ginny had moved into Grimmauld Place, he had been delighted to return to his home and had attacked the refurbishment with as much vigour as Harry and Ginny themselves had.

He still needed to be ordered around but Harry was careful to do it in a respectful way and though Kreacher found it difficult not to punish himself if he did something against his orders, Harry was always alert to the fact that he might be about to harm himself in some way and tried to avert it. They paid Kreacher generously although he refused to use the money which was just collecting up in the cupboard where he still insisted on sleeping, they had managed to get him to wear real clothes, eventually, after talking to him at great length and convincing him that they could not manage in Grimmauld place without him and that under no circumstances were they asking him to leave.

Hermione had tried many times to talk him into using his money but he was stubbornly stuck to the 'old' ways as he called it and Harry and Ginny together with Hermione had decided that the best thing to do was treat him respectfully and give him orders to follow, they were sticking to the new laws and as long as Kreacher was happy then they would continue to order him as a house elf. Of course they also regularly ordered him to rest and take things easy but decided not to order him to spend his wages as he was likely to harm himself in some way when he didn't do it.

The best thing they had ever done was to make him secret keeper for the house, as it was unplottable they were somewhat safe from the outside world, but giving the house a new secret keeper (this could now be done as the purpose for the building had changed from headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix to the Potters' home) would give them extra protection. Making Kreacher the secret keeper had been a sensible choice as he never left the house unless strictly ordered to and as this caused him great distress, unless visiting Hogwarts where he felt equally safe, they simply never ordered him to leave. If they needed to give their address out to anyone Kreacher would write it down on a piece of parchment and they would pass it on to them. Harry was comfortable knowing that Kreacher would never betray Ginny and it gave Kreacher a sense of pride knowing he had been entrusted with such an important job.

"Mrs Potter, mistress," he said as Ginny entered the room smelling of her usual flowery aroma, "Kreacher will get you some coffee, and then if it is alright with Mrs Potter, Kreacher will attend to the cleaning of the upper rooms."

"Thank you Kreacher," she replied dropping into a seat next to Harry, "And that would be wonderful, but make sure you rest too," she continued.

"Mr Potter, sir," he clamped his hand over his mouth and looked wildly for something to punish himself with.

"Kreacher," Harry said firmly and his face relaxed, "If you want to call me sir, then do so but try to practice not doing it okay?"

"Yes Mr Potter," he paused as if the word 'sir' was stuck in his throat and desperate to get out, "Kreacher will practice as he works," he turned back to look at Ginny and continued, "Mr Potter…has already ordered me to stop for at least five minutes in every hour and I will practice not saying sir while I am resting too."

"Make it ten minutes every hour Kreacher," Ginny said and Harry smiled at her, she was so gentle with the house elf and it made his heart swell to see how much she cared about others.

"Kreacher will do what both Mr and Mrs Potter tell him," he replied pouring coffee into a second mug that had been placed on the table and then bowing slowly at them both his nose almost touching the floor as he did so. They had given up telling him to stop doing all these things as it seemed to make him happy and that was all that mattered to them. He left the kitchen muttering, "Mr Potter, not sir Kreacher must say just Mr Potter. Mr Potter,s…no Mr Potter would you like coffee? Yes Mr Potter. Mr Potter would you like me to…" Ginny and Harry looked up each other and shook their heads at him.

"So how are we getting to the Burrow today my dear?" Harry asked when Kreacher had closed the kitchen door behind him. "Floo? Apparition? Or a good old fashioned broom flight? I still haven't really given my new firebolt a good run," he finished. Ginny had bought him the new firebolt as a wedding gift after she had blown up his other one during an argument. Harry hadn't been that upset at the loss of his broom especially as he had been an idiot and probably deserved it, but like Harry had been unable to forgive himself for causing Ginny so much heartache before their wedding, she had been unable to forgive herself for blowing up his broom. She had sheepishly given it to him on their wedding night and Harry had been blown away by the gesture, he had felt that he didn't deserve it especially after the way he had treated her over those few previous days but she had insisted that he keep the broom and he had been trying to find an opportunity to give it a good fly ever since they had returned from their honeymoon.

"Alright, we'll fly if you want to," she too fancied the idea of a firebolt ride to the Burrow, Ginny loved to fly just as much as Harry and especially enjoyed it when they flew together, they would be in such close proximity to each other and Harry's protective arms felt safe around her. "We'd better get going now though," she continued looking at her watch, "The firebolt is good, but if we don't get there before Ron and Hermione leave then Mum won't let us forget it!"

They downed their coffees quickly and prepared themselves for a broom ride, Harry was as familiar with Mrs Weasley's wrath as Ginny was and did not envy anyone on the wrong side of it. They left through the front door carrying the broom and Harry's invisibility cloak, once they were in the small square green in the middle of Grimmauld place, and the house had disappeared between numbers ten and fourteen, they looked around to make sure no one could see them and then threw the cloak over themselves and the broom. Ginny sat in front of Harry who held her tightly around the waist so that no part of them or the broom could be seen under the cloak and they took off quickly zooming into the air at top speed and away over London towards Ottery St Catchpole. Harry loved the feel of the wind against his face and as soon as they were high enough, Ginny removed the cloak and stuffed it into her bag. The flew swiftly over the city and out to the countryside, both of them enjoying the feeling of being so high above the world and soaring through the air magically, they were a little saddened when they reached the Burrow in record time and had to bring the broom down to the ground in the back garden and they promised themselves that they would take another good flight soon.

They entered the kitchen and were greeted by all of the Weasley's and their partners except for Ron and Hermione, "Oh," Ginny groaned, "Have we missed them?"

"No," George guffawed, "Hermione is still deciding which books to take with her and which to leave here at the Burrow, Ron said she had packed too many for them to shrink the baggage so he's made her take a few out!" As if on cue the newlyweds appeared at the doorway bickering in their usual fashion and the rest of the room smiled.

"I don't see why you need to take all the books with you Hermione, we are going to be on our honeymoon, I was hoping to be doing a bit more than reading." Ron whined.

"I know what you want to be doing, Mr Weasley," Hermione counter argued, "But it doesn't hurt to have a few books with you just in case. Oh Harry, Ginny, you're here, brilliant now Ron you should be able to shrink that now I've removed those two books."

"Two," he groaned, "Is that all?"

"Hurmph," Hermione muttered under her breath.

"Two?" Ron mouthed to Harry wide eyed, Harry chuckled quietly and received a dig in the ribs from his wife.

"Ron, yesterday you promised to love and cherish Hermione in sickness and in health, well," she suppressed a giggle with some difficulty, "Well this is Hermione's sickness so…" she couldn't contain it any longer and the room erupted in laughter. Hermione looked a little hurt but Ginny threw her arms around her best friend and soon the rest of the room were bidding them a safe and happy honeymoon Ron had shrunken the suitcases and placed them inside his robes, "Now, Mrs Weasley," he looked at Harry as he imitated the way he often spoke to Ginny, "Are we ready to hit the Caribbean beaches of St Lucia?" he finished proffering his arm to his new wife. Hermione giggled at the mention of her married name and then took his arm, Ron's face was slightly redder than it had been a moment before but it went unnoticed as everyone prepared to wave them off. She nodded and they stepped into the fireplace together throwing floo powder into the air and disappearing amidst shouts of, "Have good time!"

"Don't stay in the bedroom all day!" ("George!" Mrs Weasley squealed) and "Bon Voyage!"

"Now," Mrs Weasley said turning back to the rest of the family, "You go and entertain yourselves while I get on with lunch, back here in about an hour?" There was much nodding of heads as one by one the Weasley's left the room, Ginny and Harry decided to head off for a walk in the woods and left Mrs Weasley to her favourite pastime, cooking for the family.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you to my few reviews, good to hear that you like it and you'll be pleased to know this one will focus a bit more on Ginny's feelings rather than Harry's (though his will still crop up occassionally!)**

Chapter 3

Two weeks later Ginny and Harry found themselves back at the Burrow awaiting the return of their two best friends, Molly was running round yet again preparing another home cooked meal to celebrate their return and the rest of the family were eagerly awaiting the wonderful smelling roast ham that would be served as soon as Ron and Hermione appeared. They didn't have to wait much longer, a whooshing sound accompanied by green firelight from the fireplace in the kitchen signalled the return of the happy couple, as usual they were bickering as they stepped out of the fire and did not immediately notice the welcome party sat around the Burrow's kitchen table.

"Do you two ever stop?" George groaned and a startled Hermione spun around to face them immediately turning beetroot red and hiding her face in Ron's shoulder.

"Welcome back mate," Harry said jovially and stood up to shake Ron's hand.

"Thanks mate," he paused and turned to his mother, "Is that roast ham I smell?"

"It is indeed," Mrs Weasley replied.

"Well get it on the table, I'm starved, stupid Caribbean food, they don't know how to make proper home cooked meals, its all fish with rice and peas, where's the chips and potatoes and roast meats and pies…" Ron seemed to be off in his own little world of food and everyone at the table rolled their eyes at him, he fell into a seat beside Harry and grabbed a slice of bread from a plate already sitting on the table, "What," he said with a mouth full of bread when he saw all eyes looking at him. Everyone burst into fits of laughter and even Hermione managed to see the funny side of it.

"So how was the honeymoon Hermione," Ginny asked, "Two weeks alone with Ron didn't drive you insane? How many arguments did you have?"

"Actually it was perfect, we barely argued really," she looked sheepishly at the table and then to her husband who nodded in agreement at her.

"A good argument is healthy in a relationship anyway," he said jumping to her defence.

"Well in your case, yes but," Harry said jumping to his own wife's side of the argument, "Most of us can survive on one or two a month rather than per day!"

"It makes life interesting!" Ron insisted, "Plus," he continued lowering his voice so only Harry could hear him, "Make up sex is much better!"

"Eww, Ron I don't want to know, Hermione's like my sister, do you like it when I talk about me and your-"

"Conversation over!" Ron stated matter-of-factly, "So anything interesting happened while we've been away?"

While they had been talking Mrs Weasley had put the rest of the dinner out on the table and Ron was now attacking it as if he hadn't eaten in weeks, mind you Ron always attacked food in this way so it was nothing new! They shared tails about St Lucia with the rest of the family while eating and then decided they would call it a night flooing back to their own apartment and leaving the rest of the family to make their way slowly one by one back to their respective homes.

Harry and Ginny were the last to leave and as they bade Mr and Mrs Weasley goodnight they promised that the following week dinner would be at Grimmauld place and they could all see what a difference they had made to the place. It was still early when they returned home but Ginny was tired and went straight to bed after checking that Kreacher had taken to his cupboard and was not still working in the house. Harry decided to read the rest of the newspaper that he had left earlier that morning at the kitchen table before climbing the stairs to join his wife in bed. She was still awake when he entered the room, though only just, the circles under her eyes had become darker over the last week or so and Harry was beginning to worry about her a little. He walked over to the bed and sat down on her side, stroking her hair softly and brushing it behind her ears he said, "Are you alright?"

"Hmmm," she replied dreamily, "I'm just tired that's all."

"I know but you always seem to be tired at the moment, I'm worried about you, maybe you should talk to another healer."

Ginny smiled at him, she loved that he worried about her and placated him by saying, "I'll see the Matron healer on my next shift, I think I've just been overdoing it lately, what with helping Hermione and all the work we've been doing round here, it's just all catching up with me now!"

"Well take it easy, Kreacher can take care of this place for a while, you know he loves to do it and we'll still make sure he rests," he leaned down and kissed her on the forehead, "You get off to sleep." Harry stood up and took off his clothes before climbing into the bed beside her, she was almost asleep but turned over to rest her head on his chest before dropping into a deep slumber.

He stroked her hair softly and stared at the ceiling he was thinking about the long week ahead of him at work, they were being visited the next morning by the Romanian Ministry of Magic's auror office and Harry was sure they were going to ask them to help with a dark faction of wizards who were beginning to rise in their own country. They had heard tales in the office about sudden disappearances in the country and wizards using unforgivable curses, it was beginning just like Voldemort and his followers had begun before both of the wars and Harry was sure they were trying to ally themselves with the British Ministry in the hopes that they would be able to help stop the movement before they became too powerful.

Harry had not told Ginny about it all yet, the news was not getting through to the British newspapers and only the aurors had been privy to the information, what worried Harry was that he was afraid Kingsley Shaklebolt would ask him to head up a team to go out to Romania which would mean leaving Ginny for prolonged periods of time, alone here in England. He knew she would be well protected by the spells around the house and the army of friends and family who would ensure her safety but that niggling feeling in the pit of Harry's stomach always became more prominent if he had to leave her even for a night. This case would probably prove to last longer than a night and may involve prolonged periods of absence if he had to infiltrate the faction undercover, which, he mused, was more than likely. It was some hours later before Harry finally managed to switch off from work and fall asleep, he was plagued with dreams of Ginny being alone and vunerable with only Kreacher as protection and he slept fitfully.

A tapping on the window at dawn the next morning roused him and he reached over to the nightstand for his glasses before dragging himself out of bed to the window where Pigwidgeon, Ron and Hermione's owl, was tapping on the glass carrying a small rolled up piece of parchment. Harry opened the window, grabbed the parchment and dropped an owl treat from his bedside onto the windowsill for Pig before climbing back into bed and opening the letter. Ginny began to stir beside him and reached out lazily to place her arm around his chest.

"Morning," she grumbled, "Was that Pig?"

"Yes," Harry replied stifling a yawn as he began to read, "She wants us to go over for dinner tonight, see the pictures of the honeymoon, oh why does there always have to be a picture show after a holiday? Did we bore everyone with pictures after our honeymoon?"

"Well no Harry, but that was because the few photographs we did take were not really suitable for anyone else to see!" she grinned up at him and a smile spread across his face. He dropped the letter onto his nightstand and turned onto his side so he was facing her, "Oh yes, I remember those pictures, actually," he feigned a confused look, "I forgot what they actually looked like maybe I could get another peek at the subject!" laughing Harry pulled up the covers to gaze down at the naked body of his wife which lay beneath them, "Yes as I recall they were an excellent specimen!" Ginny chuckled at him and pulled him into her arms, they kissed each other deeply and began to explore each others' bodies hungrily with their hands, after rolling around on top of each other for a few minutes, Harry's face became more serious and he laid Ginny down underneath him, she positioned him between her legs and they began to make love, rising and falling in synchronisation with each other until they were both satisfied and laid beside each other out of breath and waiting for their heartbeats to return to normal.

"You're not on shift until Wednesday are you?" Harry asked after a few minutes.

"No, I'm going to get on with that last upstairs room while you are out today," Ginny replied.

"Well take it easy and let Kreacher help you, I have a meeting with the Romanian aurors today but it should be over by five and I'm hoping to be out of there straight after, she wants us at their place by six." He rolled over and kissed her on the forehead before rising out of the bed and dragging his work robes out of the wardrobe. He dressed quickly and walked back round to his wife's side of the bed, sitting beside her he gave her another kiss on the lips before heading down to the kitchen for a cup of coffee.

Kreacher obliged his need for early morning coffee immediately, "Will Mr Potter, ss…er be wanting Kreacher to make breakfast today?"

"No thank you," Harry replied, yawning loudly, "I'll grab something at work Kreacher, but Mrs Potter says she is going to tackle the last upstairs room today, be sure that she takes it easy okay?"

"Of course Mr Potter, Kreacher will make certain of it and if he does not then Kreacher will burn himself with…" he stopped as an angry, but still soft, look crossed Harry's face and he checked himself with a gentle tap to his own head, "Of course not Kreacher will not harm himself but he will insist that the young Mrs does not do too much in the upstairs room."

"Thank you Kreacher," Harry said taking his cup to the sink where the little elf relieved him of it and immediately began to wash and dry the porcelain object before returning it to its rightful place in the cupboard. Harry watched for a second and then made his way out of the house, once on the doorstep he checked to make sure no one was around before stepping down and watching his home disappear between numbers eleven and thirteen. Once it had gone completely he checked there was still no one about on the street and then turned on the spot and apparated to his office at the Ministry. As soon as he walked in he could tell that there was something important going on that day, even if he had not known about the Romanian visitors he would have suspected something as the main reception office was immaculately clean and all the secretary witches were sat at their desks working busily and barely pausing to look up from their work and reply as Harry bade them good morning. He didn't really know why it was necessary to look so efficient and tidy when they were having visitors, surely an auror office never ran this smoothly on a day to day basis in any country, what with new assignments coming in practically on the hour and paperwork to fill in after every one.

"Good morning Harry," said a deep voice to his left as Harry passed by his own secretary witch's desk, he turned and looked up at the Minister for Magic who was standing, apparently waiting for his arrival. "I assume you are ready for our meeting today?" Kingsley asked.

"Of course, Minister," Harry replied.

"I expected nothing less from my best auror, I was wondering if we might have a quick chat before briefing the rest of the team on the meeting." Harry opened his office door and gestured for Shaklebolt to enter ahead of him, he did so and sat down in a chair on the opposite side of the desk to Harry, who took his usual place behind the desk and glanced down at the new picture he now had on it. This was a picture of he and Ginny on their wedding day and showed the radiant red head staring up into his eyes looking happier than he thought he had ever seen her.

"How is Mrs Potter?" Kingsley asked as he spied Harry glancing at the picture.

"Very well thank you Minister, a little tired after the wedding and the work we have been doing on the house."

"Naturally!" he boomed in reply, "I have heard that the Weasley's can take on a project with vigour and keep at it until they have it completed! You may have taken the girl out of the Weasleys but you can't take the Weasley out of the girl!" They both laughed and spent a few more pleasant minutes discussing trivial information before returning to the subject of the day's upcoming meeting.

"Harry, I believe the Romanians will want us to try and infiltrate this rising group of dark wizards to try and understand how they work, what they want and, more importantly, how far they will go to get it. As our only married auror I would not expect you to take on the mission yourself but I may need you to head up some kind of force over in Romania."

"Minister, my marital status does not affect my ability to work as a full auror, if you need a team to infiltrate this group then I will lead the group into the fray, you know I am not one to sit back and let others do the dangerous work. If that is what has to be done then I will do it."

"But what about your wife Harry, will she be happy for you to do this?"

"Ginny fully supports my career and is aware of the restrictions it could sometimes place on our marital life. If I were away then her safety would be my primary concern and not her feelings about my absence."

"We would of course do all that we can to protect her in your absence Harry," the Minister interjected.

"That I am sure, Minister, but I also have my own ways of protecting her," he gripped the deluminator again in his pocket, "That wards I have placed upon our home are of the strongest magic and her family and our friends will ensure her safety in my absence, I feel she is becoming a little weary of being escorted almost everywhere but she does not complain as she understands why it is so important to me."

"It sounds as if the new Mrs Potter could be the perfect woman Harry," Kingsley joked.

"I think she is," Harry returned and blushed furiously.

"So you would be willing to take on the mission yourself Harry?" he nodded and Shaklebolt continued, "I am glad that you are, however we would need to do something about your appearance going in as Harry Potter is going to give the game away I think! How are your metaporphmagus skills?" Harry gulped, he hadn't really managed to get very far with this branch of magic, mostly being able only to transfigure one small part of his body and doing very little to change his actual appearance. The Minister seemed to see this gulp and nodded, "No matter, Harry, the department can see to that, it is your skill with dark wizards and strategic planning that have got you this far and they are the skills we need for this mission. Abery and Croft will accompany you on the mission and Abery is an accomplished metamorphmagus on himself and other people, he will make sure you are not recognised. The meeting is scheduled for eleven I shall ask Abery and Croft to come to your office, I think if we go in with a plan the Romanians will be happier about the whole thing."

"Of course Minister, I have some ideas about how to get into the group which I would like to discuss with them all." The Minister then left his office and Harry waited for the two aurors to arrive, Harry had always worked better on planning in a threesome, but he did get a pang in his stomach when he knew that it would not be Ron and Hermione helping him, the whole experience had been utterly traumatic for he and Ginny when Lestrange had taken her a few months before, but in retrospect Harry had realised just how much he missed working with his two best friends when it came to planning something serious. Hermione had, as usual, found the answer and led them straight to Lestrange and Ron had played his own part too.

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	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Harry and his two colleagues spent much of the nest two hours locked away in his office devising a plan of action on how to infiltrate the faction in Romania eventually deciding that the best starting point would be to seek out some of Voldemort's death eaters who had already joined up to share their expertise with the group. They had heard reports of this from various sources and the Ministry's investigations into their capture had provided them with a few good starting places, mostly out in the mountains of Romania. They decided that the safest way to begin putting feelers out was to move out to the remote mountain villages and frequent the local taverns, both magical and muggle, to see if they could overhear any useful conversations, they would also make their voices heard by the right people posing as ex supporters of Voldemort looking for a cause to join and share their expertise with.

They knew that as some of the death eaters were part of this group already they would need to give out false identities and chose current Azkaban prisoners who could give glorious tails of escape, it was decided that Harry would take on a completely new identity as a young wizard who was unable to join the death eaters but had fully supported their cause. In another country it would not be difficult to lie and say they had escaped as international news did not get around as easily in the magical world as it did in the muggle one. This newly rising faction was not widely known about in Romania yet, never mind the rest of the world, and the few of Voldemort's original supporters that were involved would not be anxious to spread news of their whereabouts by investigating whether or not other known death eaters had really escaped from the fortress in the sea. T

he small team met briefly to discuss with the Minister once more, before the official meeting with the Romanian aurors, to explain what their plan was and when they would be ready to execute it. Together they decided that the following Saturday the three aurors would make their way out to the Romanian borders and begin to execute their plan. Harry thought wistfully of Ginny and how she would take it, she was very supportive of his work and knew she would not complain, to anyone, that she did not want him to go, but he knew it would be hard on both of them to be separated so soon into their marriage, and Harry didn't know how long he would be gone at any one time, which would make it even harder. The meeting went well with the Romanians and they agreed with the plan that the British Ministry presented to them, they had some information that their own auror office had collected about the places where meetings of this faction were being held which Harry and his team could use, two of their own aurors would accompany them on the mission whom they were to meet upon arrival at the Romanian Ministry of Magic on Saturday at nine am.

By the end of the afternoon all plans were made and finalised and Harry had been granted a few days leave before Saturday to set any affairs in order that he might need to before he left and to spend a little quality time with his wife as nobody was sure how long they would be gone. They were hoping to become part of the faction as soon as possible but earning their trust would not be easy, they would need to hang around the Romanian mountain villages for weeks at a time, the members of the faction would want to follow them and watch them before accepting them into the group officially which meant they would have little or no contact for a while with their own Ministries and certainly not with their loved ones. Harry was not relishing sharing the news with Ginny when he returned home as he knew she would worry constantly about him while he was away, and even more so if she could not speak to him regularly.

He left the Ministry at around five o clock as he had told Ginny and apparated onto the front step at Grimmauld Place a split second later, unlocking the door with his wand he made his presence known with a notifying charm so that Ginny and Kreacher would not be alerted by a sudden noise in the house, Ginny, Harry and Kreacher were the only people who could enter the house through the front door without being invited in and the charm to notify the inhabitants sounded immediately. As he removed his cloak to hang by the front door he saw a flash of red hair as his beautiful wife floated down the stairs smiling, followed closely by Luna, Harry's heart sank a little, he had been hoping to tell Ginny his news straight away and had not anticipated a visitor in the house.

"Good day at work?" Ginny asked brightly.

"Er so so," he replied and then turned to Luna, "How are you and Neville doing? I don't think we've seen you since Ron's wedding have we?"

"No," the blonde replied dreamily, "Neville's good, working hard." She let out a sigh and then looked at her friend, "I'll be going now then, don't forget to speak to Healer Jean when you go in on Wednesday, she'll know more." Harry looked quizzically at his wife who just returned a smile and nodded at Luna. "But we'll see you tonight too won't we? At Hermione's? I am looking forward to the pictures, I do love seeing pictures, the way they show what has already happened, it's so magical isn't it? Shame you didn't have more from your honeymoon, I can't imagine why you didn't take hundreds like we did." Harry bit back a chuckle at Luna's words, they had taken hundreds of photographs but no one, except for the two people featured in them would ever get to lay their eyes on them. "I'm sure Hermione will have lots! Well, goodbye," Luna called as she closed the front door to Grimmauld Place behind her and the two lovers burst into fits of laughter. "She cheers up my day," Harry said taking hold of Ginny around the waist and pulling her into his arms for a quick kiss. "What did she mean when she said to see Healer Jean?" he asked in a concerned tone.

"I just told her about my being so tired and she said that she'd be the best person to see that's all, I'll see her when I'm on my next shift, don't worry your head about it my dear, you look worried about something already." Harry coughed and took Ginny by the hand she had a knack for knowing when something was bothering him, "Let's go into the sitting room, darling, I need to talk to you," he said softly. A worried expression crossed Ginny's face at his words but she followed him wordlessly up the stairs and sat down next to him on the comfortable leather couch they had bought for themselves as soon as they had moved in.

"You're going away aren't you?" she asked tenderly, Harry looked down at his feet sheepishly but then forced himself to look her straight in the eyes again as he replied quietly, "Yes."

"I knew it would happen one day, I just didn't realise it would be so soon," a sad look crossed her face and Harry took both her hands in his.

"I'll be alright you know," he whispered, "And I'll be straight back to you this time, this," he indicated the gold band on the third finger of his left hand, "Proves it."

"I know," she said smiling at him, "I'm just going to miss you so much, when do you have to go?"

"Saturday," he replied and Ginny's face seemed to fall, but as he predicted she did not complain and a smile of reassurance returned to her face to show Harry that she supported him completely. "And," he continued "I'm afraid I don't know when I'll be coming back, or even when I'll be able to contact you." It suddenly dawned on Harry just how difficult it was actually going to be to leave her this time, he had a mission that much was true, but it wasn't his destiny this time, he had volunteered to do it by becoming an auror, but it hadn't been prophesised about and he was now beginning to realise that it would be hard to leave this loving home and the wonderful life with his wife, behind for a while. "I'm going to Romania," he continued, "A group of dark wizards are beginning to band together, some of them ex death eaters of Voldermort's, and they have asked for our help. I can't tell you much but we are hoping to infiltrate the faction," at this Ginny gasped and interrupted, "But won't that be more dangerous for you? If there are ex death eaters then they will recognise you won't they?" He could hear a note of panic in her voice tinged with a little anger that the Ministry had asked him to be involved with ex death eaters in such a way.

"I will be metamorphmagosed by a member of the team, they won't know that it's me," he reassured her but she wasn't going to be placated by this, "But what if you are split up and the metaphorphmagus wears off? You are going into a group of dark wizards Harry, they will not be very forgiving if they find out who you are." He could still sense some anger and thought it was probably feeding from a mixture of worry and her not wanting him to leave her.

"Ginny, you know we will take the utmost care in everything that we do, that's what we are trained for, you know that." She relented a little at this comment, as she looked into his eyes she could see that he was reluctant to actually leave her too and knew she would make it even harder for him if she continued to talk like this, it was his job and she knew that, she would never stand in the way of his career but in all the time they had been together he had not been out of communication before. When he had said that he might not be able to contact her she had been instantly reminded of when he, Ron and Hermione had left to hunt down Voldemort's horcruxes for a year. She had been so worried about all of them without being able to contact anyone or receive anything from them, she had sometimes found herself going out of her mind with worry, although at least then she had known that if anything truly awful had happened to Harry then it would have been reported across the country. She could always placate herself with the knowledge that no news was good news, this time there would be nothing like that. If anything did happen to him, she would likely not learn about it for a while and when she did it would be an official ministry owl with a small, impersonal roll of parchment. She sighed and looked at her husband who was desperately pleading with her through his eyes not to make this more difficult for him, reaching up to place her hand on the side of his face she leaned forwards and planted a soft kiss on his lips. When she looked back into his eyes they were saying thank you.

"Come and see what we did with the last room," she said jumping off the couch and taking Harry's hand in hers again, there was no point in discussing it further, he would be leaving on Saturday and she would have to deal with that in her own way.

Five hours later they were both curled up in bed after having eaten a large meal at Ron and Hermione's and sitting through two hours worth of photographs, mostly showing brightly coloured, tropical fish swimming up and down in the clear, Caribbean sea. Harry had remarked that it was rather like watching a nature documentary on the television, but being the only other muggle born in the room, Hermione was they only one who had understood what he meant. Luna thought the whole thing was amazing and had to spend twenty minutes on each picture while Hermione went into great detail to answer her never ending questions. Finally Harry broke the news to them about his mission, although he couldn't share any official information with them (though he would later tell Hermione and Ron all about it) he could tell them that he would be out of range for a while, he caught hold of Ron later in the evening when they were alone in the kitchen and asked him to keep a close watch over Ginny while he was gone.

Harry had shared with Ginny the fact that he had a few days leave before Saturday and Luna had gracefully offered to swap shifts with Ginny until the weekend so she could spend the time with Harry, they had both been extremely grateful. They had said their goodbyes around ten o clock and apparated back to the house going up to bed immediately and curling up around each other, Ginny had been quiet all night and Harry knew she was upset about him having to leave, he supposed he couldn't blame her given his track record. "It'll be okay you know," he whispered and she pulled his arm around her stomach so he was holding her tight and stroked his fingers as he ran gentle kisses up and down her neck until they both fell asleep.

Harry woke continuously through the night as he kept dreaming that Ginny had been taken over and over again by ex death eaters and new more evil wizards wearing indistinct black masks and cloaks, every time he awoke he had to check that she was still there and safe in his arms and each time his hold on her tightened. He woke for the final time as the sun was rising he was still holding his wife in his arms and she was sleeping peacefully, he looked down at her and realised how scared he was about having to leave her this time, once he had come to realise that leaving her to a life of loneliness without him was the wrong thing to do he had assured himself that he would always be there to protect her and find her through the deluminator if he needed to, but he had not thought ahead to a time when he might not be there to watch over her, and find her if he had to.

He had no idea how long he would be gone and out of contact with her, and the rest of his friends and family, if anything did happen to her he would not know about it and therefore would not be able to help her. He would need to do some thinking and organising before he left to ensure that she was safe, he had placed the strongest magical wards possible on the house and knew that it was unplottable, it would be virtually impossible for anyone to get into the house unless they were an extremely accomplished wizard but there was still the slight possibility that someone could find a weak spot with the house that Harry had missed. He mulled over the problem for another hour before Ginny woke up and turned to face him, sighing deeply she whispered to him, "You looked troubled, are you alright?"

"Yes," he replied, "I'm just worried about leaving you."

"But I know you're coming back this time."

"Yes, but I'm worried about your safety while I am away, if I'm not here to protect you then…"

"Harry, you have placed the strongest wards around this house that I have ever known of, my family or our friends follow me practically everywhere I go, which is starting to get on my nerves a little but I know it is important to you," she added seeing a frown cross his face, "So I put up with it, and remember that you are only doing it because you care so much, and so are they, but I am a grown up woman now and I can take care of myself, the only thing you need to worry about is completing your mission and coming home safely to your wife, who will miss you dreadfully, but will cope without you." She leaned up to him and kissed him tenderly on the lips, Harry sighed and then rolled onto his back before continuing their conversation, "I know all that, but I'm still worried about you being here all alone, I mean there may be a weak link in the wards somewhere that I haven't thought about and if I am not here and people know that, then they might try and find one. Maybe," an idea had begun to form in his head shortly before Ginny woke up, "Maybe you should move back to the Burrow while I am away, at least there you won't be alone and then I'll know that you are looked after by your Mum and Dad."

"Harry," she said a little crossly, "I am not a little girl anymore, I am a married woman with a home of my own to live in and look after, I do not need to be looked after and watched by my mother any more, this is our marital home and just because you will not be living in it for a while does not mean that I cannot live by myself, and protect myself if something does happen." With that Ginny rose from the bed and walked out of the door, Harry knew he had crossed a line, she had been extremely patient with him after their marriage agreeing to any protections and restrictions he placed upon her, but he had thought for a while that her patience was wearing thin.

He still thought it would be a good idea to have her live at the Burrow while he was away though, and decided he might have more luck if he spoke to her parents about it, Thursday night was still family meal night and they would have to share the news with them that Harry was going away for an indefinable amount of time, he would use the evening and find time to talk to Molly and Arthur about the situation, he was sure they would agree with his side of the argument and talk Ginny into staying with them. He rose, dressed and went to the kitchen quietly deciding to say no more about it until he had spoken to the Weasleys. Ginny joined him half an hour later just as he was about to leave for work, apologising to his wife he kissed her gently and received a warm smile back before opening the front door and leaving for another day at work. He would work with the two aurors today finalising details and plans and then have three days leave to organise his affairs and see his wife as much as possible.

**Please review, let me know what you think and I love to hear people's thought on where it might be going, thug I know that's a bit hard so early into the story!**


	5. Chapter 5

**I really enjoyed this chapter and it's quite long too! Lots of passion in it!!!**

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Chapter 5

On Thursday evening they both prepared themselves for the weekly visit to the Burrow, Ginny had asked her Mum to make the meal again promising that it would be at Grimmauld Place soon. Harry had made all the arrangements for his mission at work and had enjoyed spending the two days since alone with his wife at Grimmauld Place, he was still a little concerned about her tiredness but she had reassured him that she was fine and just needed an iron replenishing potion for her blood which she could get at work on Saturday. Ginny had forgiven him for the disagreement they had had and Harry had said no more about it, though he had secretly decided that he would talk to her parents that evening and probably Bill too as he often had more sway at getting Ginny to do what she didn't want to.

They arrived at the Burrow ahead of everyone else so they could tell Molly and Arthur about Harry's mission, worried expressions crossed their faces as they listened to the news and their eyes flitted between Harry and Ginny as he explained that he would not be able to contact any of them for a while. They were used to hearing about Harry's dangerous work but it made them no less worried about the dark haired boy who was now a real member of their family and whom they loved as much as one of their own, Molly fussed over him for a while hugging him and telling him to be careful while Arthur shook his hand and told him quietly that they would look out for Ginny while he was away so that he had one less thing to worry about. Harry thanked him and then asked if he might have a private word with he and Molly later about Ginny, he looked at his wife when he asked this and saw her being cuddled by her mother who was obviously upset for her daughter at having to be separated from her husband so soon into their marriage.

The meal passed as it usually did, a feast supplied by Molly, a few laughs and jokes from George and Ron and general conversation about life and how it was treating everyone, a silence passed over the table when Harry shared his news once more with the Weasleys who did not already know it and they all began to wish him luck again. He was aware that he would not see most of them again before he left as he was intending to spend the following day alone with his wife, seeing just Ron and Hermione later in the evening.

As they sat around the sitting room later that night while Molly cleared up in the kitchen Harry approached Arthur and Bill and asked if he might have a quick word with them, he saw a look cross Ginny's face as he left the room and he felt a pang of guilt about what he was going to ask them, he knew she would not be happy about it but he could not leave knowing she was not fully protected. They sat at the table in the kitchen where Molly joined them and Harry began to speak, "I'm worried about Ginny being alone at Grimmauld Place while I am away, I really don't know how long I will be gone for or how often I will be able to make contact with anyone. I broached the subject of her staying here while I am gone," Molly's eyes lit up at this idea as everyone knew she would be delighted to have her daughter living under her roof again for a while, "She didn't take to the idea as she wants to stay at home but I'm worried and hoped perhaps you may be able to talk her into the idea," he looked imploringly at Bill when he said this knowing how much sway he could have over his sister at times.

"I think it would be a wonderful idea," Molly said gently, "That place is far too big for her to rattle around in while Harry's gone."

"Of course it would be lovely to have her living here again," Arthur interrupted, "But Ginny is a stubborn girl and I'm not sure how easy it would be to persuade her to do it." Bill nodded in agreement

"That's why I was hoping you," he turned to Bill at this point, "Might be able to persuade her, I know that she listens to you Bill and…" he drifted off not sure of how to finish the sentence.

"I can see the advantages of her staying here Harry," he started, "But Dad's right she's a stubborn girl and I can understand why she would want to stay in her own home, she is a married woman now." Harry began to look defeated and Bill saw this in his eyes. "However," he continued, "I can see that this is important to you and Merlin knows you will have enough to worry about while you are gone, perhaps it would be best of she did come back to the Burrow until you return. I'll talk to her and see if I can persuade her, but I don't relish the-" he was cut short by a shrill scream and the kitchen door slammed as Ginny blustered in.

Everyone in the room froze and watched as she walked straight over to the fire place, glaring menacingly at Harry and Bill she stepped into the fire and threw floo powder into the air, they just made out the angry call of "Number twelve Grimmauld Place" before she spun out of view in a whirl of green flames, an angry and defiant look on her face as she disappeared. Harry gulped as Bill turned back to look at him and Molly and Arthur tried to look in any other direction.

The eldest Weasley brother coughed before continuing, "I was going to say that I don't relish the conversation, especially given that reaction," he nodded his head in the direction of the fireplace, "I don't think she likes the idea mate." Harry dropped his head into his hands and sighed, ruffling his hair he turned back to Arthur Weasley who gave him a sympathetic look, "My girl is a wilful one and it won't be easy," he said, "We'll do what we can to persuade her Harry, but she is a grown woman now and in the end it is her decision, plus you know as well as we do just how stubborn she can be. Just remember we won't let anything happen to her, whether she stays here or in your home there are plenty of us here to look out for her and you will have more to worry about while you are away. Check in with us when you can and stay safe son, for now I think maybe you should go and speak to that madam of a daughter of mine!" Harry tried to chuckle, this was going to be a stressful night and he was well aware of how Ginny could dig her heels in when she wanted to.

Ten minutes later, after a crushing hug from Molly and hand shakes from the other Weasley boys, Harry prepared to apparate back to Grimmauld Place, he had organised for Ron and Hermione to visit the following evening before he left and the latter had wished him luck in dealing with Ginny, she too knew what it was like to argue with a Weasley, though granted in their arguments Ron often relented for a quiet life.

The house was silent and dark when he closed the front door behind him, the usual alerts sounded to let Ginny and Kreacher know it was him, but the silence scared him for a moment, what if Ginny had gone somewhere else to calm down? He gripped the deluminator, which was still in his pocket, but decided to check the house before using it. Kreacher came running to the front door to take his cloak and saved him the trouble of hunting her out, he looked nervous about something and Harry tried to give him a reassuring look as he asked, "Is Mrs Potter at home Kreacher?" the twitchy elf bowed to Harry before replying, "She is in the upstairs room we have just cleaned, she said not to disturb her Mr Potter," he coughed uncomfortably and squeaked out, "She…she said…especially you." He cowered then as if Harry was going to hit him for sharing this information.

"Thank you Kreacher, you may retire for the night, we will not be needing anything else, and do not look worried, Mrs Potter is angry with me not you, and nothing will happen to you if I disturb her, you have passed on the message, you are not obliged to see it carried out, Goodnight." He patted the aging elf on the head and received a smile of thanks and relief, waiting for him to go off to his cupboard Harry mulled over what he would say to Ginny and decided to just tell her why he wanted her to go to the Burrow while he was away. He prepared himself for the task as he climbed the stairs to the top of the house, opening the door to the attic bedroom he saw Ginny sitting on the floor staring out of the window, the moonlight streamed through it and gave his wife a glowing angelic look, though her face gave an entirely different impression.

"I told Kreacher I didn't want to be disturbed by you," she spat at him angrily.

"He gave me the message and I sent him to bed, he has done his part." He replied in a monotone voice, Harry walked over to the window and stared out at the street below, "Look Ginny," he began, "I know you are angry-"

"ANGRY?" she screamed, "Angry? I'm furious! I told you how I felt about this, Harry. I told you I wanted to stay here and you went behind my back to try and persuade my family to do it for you. How low can you go? I am sick of all of this protection, I went along with it for a while because I knew it was important to you and after everything we went through before the wedding. But we moved in here because it was the safest place we could think of, for Merlin's sake no one can get into it because it is so bloody well guarded, my Mum practically needs to give five days notice to pop round for a cup of tea. However I didn't complain because I knew you wanted to keep me safe and it was endearing to know how worried you were about me but now, now you're going to leave me and not only that you want me to leave our home that we've just spent the last three months sorting out and go back to living with my Mum and Dad like a teenager."

She jumped up quickly and walked to the other side of the room, Harry could feel the anger rising in him now too, his constant worry over her protection clouded the arguments she was making and he refused to believe that she might be right, "Because I want you to be safe, I put all the wards and protection on this house to protect you, to keep you alive, I tried to do it by leaving you but your bloody mindedness made me marry you and this is the only way I can think of to keep that protection while I am gone."

Ginny whirled around and gave him a blazing look, "My bloody mindedness!" she shrieked, "You married me because of my bloody mindedness? If I'd realised that it was going to be like living in a prison then maybe I would have let your bloody mindedness win over and not have married you! I thought you had actually married me because you loved me and wanted to do it, but if it was my BLOODY MINDEDNESS," she emphasised, "Then maybe you shouldn't have done it!" She grabbed the door handle and pulled it open violently, leaving the room with her feet stomping she slammed the door behind her and ran across the hall to the second empty bedroom on the upper floor of the house, she slammed this door behind her too and sat in a dark corner away from the window.

Harry was hot on her heels and followed her into the room slamming the doors behind him in anger and frustration too, "Ginevra Potter," he growled walking over to her and pulling her to her feet by the wrists forcefully, she winced slightly at his brutish force but stared defiantly into his sparkling emerald eyes through her blazing brown ones, "I did marry you because I love you, I love you more than anything in my whole world, you are my life and I will do whatever I have to do to make sure you are alive and safe, no matter how much it annoys you or angers you, If anything," he emphasised the word anything, "Ever happened to you, well you know I couldn't bare it," he was still holding her wrists tightly and he could feel the back of his neck getting hotter through his anger, "I will always do what I have to do and if that includes getting your parents to care for you while I am gone then I am going to do that and I'll be damned if I'm going to let you make me feel guilty for doing it," he released her hands and walked to the other side of the room. Ginny breathed heavily and leaned against the wall, "Then don't go," she screamed.

"WHAT?" he growled back.

"Don't go, why is it always you? You've done your bit for this world, you killed the darkest wizard there was and you are still chasing his posse, why do you have to go and do it for other countries? If you don't want to feel guilty then stay here and protect me yourself, let Romania deal with their own problems, they weren't there to help you years ago when you were almost killed countless times and tortured by all those people. No they sat back, happy that it wasn't their problem. It's always you, you said we could have had a safe and normal life if you were anyone other than Harry Potter, well stop being Harry bloody Potter and start being a normal person with burdens like, will I be able to pay the bills this month? Or what shall I buy my friends for Christmas this year? Not how can I secretly infiltrate a dangerous gang of known dark wizards without being captured and killed? You are always on about protecting me and making sure nothing happens to me, well what about you? What would happen to me if anything were to ever happen to you? Can't you see I would be just as devastated if I lost you? Why can't you protect me by protecting yourself? My life would be over too if something happened to you and then where would your protection be?"

Tears started to stream down her face but she wiped them away furiously refusing to give in and allow Harry to see her as a soft woman and use it as a way to get around her. "It's always you!" she repeated.

"Yes Ginny it is, because I wouldn't be me if I didn't do these things. I can't just give up and let others do the things I know I can help with. You knew that when you married me, you knew what my job was like and you knew that was one of the reasons why I didn't want to marry you."

"Well maybe you shouldn't have married me then, maybe you were right, maybe you should have let me wait at that altar and realise the fact that we would never be able to have a normal and happy life together, who knows I might have gotten over you eventually and been able to find a simple, risk free life with someone who wouldn't wrap me up in cotton wool and treat me like a vulnerable child. I need someone who will treat me like a woman!" she screamed at him.

They were both beyond just anger now and Harry was beginning to realise that the real problem was not the way he had tried to protect her it was that he had to leave her again, but his anger at her words for simply trying to protect her and keep her alive fuelled him to keep arguing his own point instead of stepping back and thinking carefully about what was wrong. He strode purposefully across the room and grabbed hold of her shoulders, "Then maybe I should have left you at the altar and you would have realised just how much I would do to protect you! His eyes burned down into hers and he saw a weakening in them, she had never actually expected him to agree that marrying her was the wrong thing and he could see that in her eyes, he regretted saying it instantly but was too angry to apologise.

The anger replenished in Ginny's eyes after a split second and she returned in a low grumbling voice, "Let…Me…Go." but he continued to glare into those blazing chocolate eyes sliding his hands down her arms and gripping them tightly. "No!" he barked back staring straight at her. "Let me go!" she repeated still staring back into his eyes defiantly all traces of tears had gone now as she began to shake with fury. Harry continued to hold her in his hands gripping harder and harder and although the pressure was beginning to hurt Ginny refused to let him see that as she grimaced and dealt with the slight pain.

"LET ME GO!" she screamed once more and Harry bellowed at her again, "NO!" then he crushed his lips against hers roughly and kissed her forcefully, she tried to refuse him at first but he pulled her closer to him and gripped her arms even tighter than before, using his tongue he forced her mouth open brutally and began to flick it in and out of her mouth, she began to squirm for a second but then her tongue began to echo his and her own hands came up to his hair which she grabbed by the fist full and used to pull his head closer to hers.

Their lips began to tingle with the force of their rough kissing but neither of them cared, Harry's grip on his wife loosened as he lifted her up in his arms. Ginny swung her legs around his waist and gripped on tightly as he turned them both around and slammed her violently against the rough wall of the empty bedroom, Ginny groaned at the force but continued to pull on his hair as they kissed harder and harder. Harry's hands were under her bottom and holding her against the wall as her hands moved round to the front of his shirt, grabbing both sides of the garment she ripped it apart sending buttons flying across the room, they hit the floor and rolled off in many directions.

Pushing her with all of his strength against the wall Harry moved his hands and she stayed in the same position, he lifted her top over her head and unhooked her bra, removing it roughly he threw it into a corner of the room and took one of her breasts in his hand, Ginny's head slammed back into the wall as he began to caress her nipples with both hands, pulling on them and squeezing hard, she moaned with pleasure and bit back a gasp as his mouth found one of them and his teeth began to nibble it, he bit down hard on her in anger and Ginny gasped loudly, grabbing his hair she pulled his head back forcibly and glared into his eyes, the only thing either of them could see was pure lust fuelled by their anger towards each other.

Ginny crushed her own lips against Harry's and began to bite his lower lip, he groaned at the force she exerted and began to taste blood in his own mouth where she had bitten a little too hard, wrapping his arms around her he moved Ginny from against the wall and laid her down on the bare wooden floorboards. She gasped at the cold when her bare back touched them but Harry ignored this and pressed her down furthur onto them by dropping the full weight of his body on top of hers. They hastily removed the rest of their clothes while intermittently kissing each other, Ginny took hold of Harry in her hands and began to stroke her fingers up and down him as he moaned softly, he continued to nibble her breasts and nipples as she lifted her body up and down never letting him go.

After a while Ginny's hands trailed down his thighs and around to his bottom where she used forceful pressure to push him into her. She called out as he pushed fiercely in and out of her body causing her pain and pleasure at the same time, she could feel her back rubbing against the rough floorboards as he continued with a ferociousness she had never seen from him before, it was not love making like they had ever made before, it was raw and passionate and they both made their angry feelings known as they moved in synchronisation with each other. She rolled him over onto his back and straddled him with her knees rubbing painfully against the floor, but neither of them cared, all they knew is that they were combined as one, they were together having primal, animal sex with each other showing the passion that they shared, the passion that had led to the argument and the passion which would see them through their entire marriage.

Harry called out her name as he exploded inside of her and Ginny collapsed on top of him, her hair splayed out over his face as they breathed deeply and listened to each others' heartbeats begin to regulate themselves. They stayed in that position for half an hour before either of them moved, both breathing gently but never speaking, she traced circles around his chest with her finger nails and he stroked the bottom of her back where his hand reached. Eventually Ginny stood up, letting Harry's hand fall to the floor, and walked over to the door, without saying a word or stopping to put on her clothes she opened it and left the room, Harry heard their own bedroom door close a moment later and he sighed deeply.

They had said a lot just then and Harry knew most of it had been in anger, but there were a few home truths mixed in too, he had not meant to say that marrying her may have been the wrong thing to do and he was sure she hadn't meant it either. However it was clear to Harry that Ginny didn't really want him to go away and he couldn't blame her, he had left her a few times now and caused her heartache each time, he also knew that the constant protection was starting to get on her nerves and he thought that maybe she was right about the house, it had the most effective wards guarding it known to the wizarding world and perhaps she would be safe enough if the family would just drop in on her from time to time.

He moaned as he rose from the floor, the roughness of their love making had caused scratches on his back which he had not noticed at the time but were now making their presence known, his lips felt sore where Ginny had bit them and he ran his tongue over them remembering that he had done the same to her but in a much more intimate area. He suddenly realised how rough they had been with each other and was concerned that he may have hurt Ginny both emotionally and physically in the last hour. Collecting all of their clothes from the floor Harry left the room and strolled quietly down the stairs to their master bedroom.

Ginny was already in bed facing away from him when he entered the room but he could tell by her breathing that she was still awake, dropping the clothes in a heap by the wardrobe he walked over to the bed and climbed in beside her, he reached out to touch her shoulder gently and she flinched slightly at his touch, this troubled him and he realised just how bad things had been tonight. He removed his hand and placed them both in his own lap, "Ginny I'm sorry," he whispered, "Did I…did I hurt you?" she shook her head gently but still would not turn to look at him.

"I didn't mean what I said about marrying you," she nodded but still did not speak, "I married you because I love you, and it was what I wanted more than anything in the world, and I'm protecting you for the same reason, but you are right, maybe sending you to live at the Burrow is taking it too far and I shouldn't have gone to Bill, that was a low thing to do to you. You will be safe here and I should have realised that, I can't make you live your life wrapped up in cotton wool for me, it would stifle you and your voraciousness and zest for life is what made me fall in love with you." She turned onto her back now and looked at him, he could see tear stains down her cheeks and he reached out to touch them this time she did not flinch at his touch but allowed him to stroke her face she reached up for his arm and tugged on it gently until he was laid beside her in the bed.

"I will come back," he whispered, his hand had moved down her body and across to her slender waist as he propped himself up on his other arm and looked down at her, "This time I promise you." Tears trickled from her eyes again and he kissed them away, "I won't ever let you go again Ginny, I love you too much. But you know I have to do this don't you?" she nodded at him. "If you want to stay here, then stay here, just let me ask your family to pop in on you and check you are alright, I'm worried about you being lonely too."

"I know," she croaked, "But if I'm here then I'll feel closer to you, I will miss you so much and here I will have all of your things around me." He nodded at her as she turned onto her side and faced him. "I'm sorry about what I said too, I know it will be hard for you to leave and I should have kept my feelings about it hidden, you are Harry Potter and you will always help other people, like you said about me, that's the Harry I fell in love with and if you didn't do it you wouldn't be the same man. And," she looked down guiltily, "I would never wish for you to have left me at the altar, I would never have found anyone else to fall in love with, I would rather be wrapped up in cotton wool than anywhere else," he lifted her chin up to look in her eyes and he smiled, "I just get frustrated by it sometimes and tonight when I heard you talking to Bill I just felt like…like a-"

"A child and not a woman?" he finished for her and she nodded again. "I don't mean to make you feel like that and-" she silenced him with a soft kiss on the lips which made him wince a little as he felt the soreness left by her biting she pulled back and looked at them a worried expression crossing her eyes as she noticed how red they were. Reaching up with her hand to touch his cheek she said, "I'm sorry I didn't mean to hurt you," but Harry grabbed her hand and kissed it gently, "Sshhh, I think we both were a little rough," he indicated the red marks on her arms where he had gripped her and looked at her breasts where he could see traces of bite marks too. With a look of self hatred on his face he said, "I can't believe I hurt you like that, no wonder you flinched when I touched you," he reached out tenderly to touch the bite marks and she let him.

"Harry, it didn't hurt, we were passionate and did these things because we love each other so much, I flinched because I was still angry at you, not because I didn't want you to touch me. You would never hurt me Harry, I know that we were just a little rough." He still looked guiltily at her and took his hand from her breasts as if afraid to touch them again, "But I'm so sorry," he whispered his eyes clouding with tears, he wanted to punish himself for being like this with her. She took his hand in hers and brought it up to her breast, taking one finger of his hand she traced the marks on her with it before moving it to gently stroke the end of her nipple, moaning with excitement she said, "Harry, please, let's stop apologising and just be together, you have to go soon and I don't want to waste another minute," he nodded at her and then placed a soft kiss on her lips gently caressing her nipple ever so gently with the finger she was holding in place and listening to the quickening in her breath.

"Harry, make love to me, like I'm a woman," she sighed.

"I always make love to you like you're a woman, the most beautiful woman I know, but I hurt you before and I don't want to-" she placed a finger to his lips and smiled at him, "Just make love to me Harry," she whispered and he silenced her once more with a gentle probing from his tongue against her lips. This time she accepted obligingly and they made love slowly and sensually holding each other tightly, he was reluctant at first but she persuaded him by assuring him that he had not hurt her before.

He took his time to kiss and caress every part of her body as if apologising still for his roughness before and she obliged his whim, slowly and sensually he licked and kissed her whole body, concentrating on her nipples and the soft flesh between her legs as he knew she liked this, when she had moaned with pleasure whispering his name softly and gripping his head she sat up to try and return the favour but he pushed her back ever so gently silencing her protest with a kiss on the lips before saying, "This is all for you, this is how to make love to a woman properly, it's about you and not me." She smiled serenely as he pushed himself into her peacefully and she gasped staring deeply into his eyes, he smiled at her as they moved in unison and synchronisation until they were both satisfied once more and lay holding each other tenderly, Harry with his head on her stomach staring up at her face while they caressed each others' bodies and enjoyed the chance to be alone, not knowing how long it would be before they could do this again.

**Hope you liked this, I wanted to try and show the angst at him having to leave through different emotions, please review and let me know what you all think!! Thanks to my reviewers so far!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Happy New Year to my readers**

**We're going to start getting into the meaty bit of the story now, so I hope you enjoy and please review!!!**

Chapter 6

"Look after yourself mate," Ron said clapping Harry on the back, he and Hermione were about to leave and let Ginny have him all to herself for a few more precious hours, "Oh don't get all teary Hermione, it's not forever!"

"I know, but I'm really going to miss you Harry."

"I know you will Hermione, I'll miss you too," he hugged her tightly, "Look after each other won't you?" he continued looking at both of his best friends, "And don't forget to keep an eye on Ginny too." He looked sheepishly in her direction and a small frown appeared on her face but was immediately replaced with a smile.

"We will mate, don't worry about her she's a tough old Weasley!"

"Old?" Ginny shrieked, "I'll never be as old as you brother dear!" They all laughed at her and it brightened the mood that had settled in the room. After giving Harry one last crushing hug Hermione and Ron both stepped into the fireplace one at a time and disappeared back to their own home leaving Harry alone with his wife once more. They had stayed in bed for most of the day talking about Harry's mission and discussing the argument from the previous night, they had both apologised again for the things they had said and Harry had flooed quickly to the Burrow after they had risen from bed to tell Molly and Arthur that Ginny would be staying at Grimmauld Place but that he would appreciate them watching over her while he was away. They had agreed and wished him well once more before he had flooed back home to eat with Ron and Hermione.

Ginny was clearing away dishes from the kitchen table and Harry walked slowly over to where she stood, slipping his arms around her from behind he pulled her gently into a tight embrace and kissed her neck, "Leave that to Kreacher and come with me," he said softly turning her round to face him and kissing her nose. He took her hand in his and tugged her gently towards the doorway, "Where are we going?" she asked.

"Just come with me," he led her up to the sitting room and told her to sit on the couch.

"Harry, what's going on?" he walked over to the dresser and opened a drawer to retrieve a gold box he had placed in there earlier in the week, taking it in his hands he walked back to the couch and sat with Ginny, he offered her the box and she took it, a curious expression crossing her face. Ginny opened the box and gazed down on a shimmering yellow rock attached to a golden chain.

"What is it?" she asked curiously.

"It's a special rock, I suppose a bit like the philosopher's stone in a way, though it won't make us rich or give us eternal life, but it does show something else that is eternal you see it's made by love."

"What?" she asked a shocked tone in her voice.

"It's made from love and it survives on it," he chuckled a little at the expression of mingled curiosity and amazement on her face, "I discovered it at the department of mysteries a few weeks ago it takes an incredible amount of magic and even more love to make one. You need to really know love in order to create it, and it survives on that love. I made it for you using our love and while ever I love you the rock will shine gold like that." The look on her face changed to one of admiration as she looked up from the box and into his eyes, eyes which were reflecting the feeling he was talking about. "I made it and put it on the chain so you could wear it while I am away and it will remind you of how much I love you and that this time, I'm coming back." He looked at her with an embarrassed smile on his face.

"Harry, it's beautiful!" she leaned over and kissed him tenderly. "I can't believe you could make it from your love," she whispered.

"It wasn't my love Ginny, it was ours, you are the power for the stone, it's not just my love for you but it's your love returned too! They still don't know that much about it or what it can do, all they know is that it survives on love. I stumbled across the research by accident a few weeks ago but I sneaked into the department under the invisibility cloak the other day to look at it in more detail, I knew it would be something special could leave you before I went, it was quite amazing to make actually, I just channelled all my feelings for you into my wand." She smiled at his words, "And I thought about your love for me and all the things you have sacrificed to love me so much, it was strange I could feel it all in my wand, I didn't need to say anything I just thought it all and concentrated and a jet of bright yellow light flowed from the end of my wand, it was like a thick amber liquid which formed in front of me and made the stone." Ginny stared at him in amazement she knew that she would never be as powerful as he was but the fact that he was powerful enough to make something as wonderful as this using their love amazed the young witch.

"You can't tell anyone about it though Ginny," Harry continued looking intently at his wife "It is not known about outside of the department of mysteries yet and I could get into trouble if anyone ever found out, even Ron or Hermione."

"Don't worry, this is for me, nobody else needs to know about it at all." With that Ginny took the little stone from the box and fastened it around her neck, "This will never leave my neck," she whispered gently then stood up and took Harry's hands in his, "Come on," she whispered huskily, "Let's go upstairs!" He looked up at her hungrily and jumped to his feet ready to oblige her every request, following her from the room and up the stairs they started to kiss when they reached the top and didn't make it any further, the physical representation of their love in the form of this stone had completely astounded Ginny and she wanted to give him the same physical representation in the only way she knew how.

Looking up into his eyes she kissed him passionately and began to undress him where they were, he tried to move them in the direction of the bedroom but she halted him and began to slowly undress him, "What does it matter?" she whispered, "There's nobody here but us, Kreacher will be in his cupboard, let's use our house!" he gazed back down at her as she removed her own clothes and discarded them on the floor next to his own, pushing him up against the lading wall she explored his body with her mouth the way he had with her the previous night, returning the favour he had not allowed her to before dragging him down onto the soft carpet where they made love again Ginny astride Harry staring down into his emerald eyes which showed all the love he had used to create the beautiful stone around her neck, which bounced up and down as she rose and fell above him until they were both satisfied.

After a few minutes of listening to each others' breathing they rose from the carpet and Harry lifted his wife in his arms to carry her back to their bedroom. Neither of them slept at all through the night, laying in each others' arms they talked about their past and discussed plans for their future when Harry returned safely from his mission, something he continually assured her that he would do. They made love again clinging to each other furiously both afraid to let go as they didn't know when they would be able to be so intimate with each other again. As the sun was rising and casting a bright glow in their bedroom Harry made a move to rise from the bed, kissing Ginny on the forehead and holding her soft naked body one more time in his muscular arms, trying to burn the feeling into his memory, he whispered, "I love you," before releasing her and sliding to sit on the end of the bed. Ginny sat up and stroked his back with her fingers, moving her body to sit behind him she pressed her self against his back and slid her hands around his chest squeezing him tightly, "You don't want to make this easy do you?" he chuckled at her and she shook her head from side to side as she pressed her face against his back.

"I'm sorry," she whispered kissing his back and releasing her hold on him so he could rise from the bed, knowing that she had to be supportive and let him go she rose from her side of the bed and pulled on a fluffy white dressing gown which she fastened around her waist as she left the room and allowed Harry to dress in his work robes.

Twenty minutes later Harry stood at the doorway to their home holding a sobbing Ginny in his arms, he was trying to hold back his own tears as he said goodbye to his wife, he didn't want to make this any harder on her than he knew it was going to be, "I promise you I will come back, this is not like before," he kissed her forehead and lifted her tear stained face to look up at his, "And you have the necklace," he fingered the stone hanging around her neck, "It will remind you that I still love you, and if you really need me for anything then go to the Ministry, they have ways of contacting us if they need to." Ginny nodded her head at him but knew she would disturb him for nothing, it was important for Harry to concentrate on his work and return home as soon as he could, she would not complicate things by giving him something else to worry about.

"I have to go," he whispered into her hair as he pulled her close for another hug, "This is so hard, I don't want to leave you."

"But you have to Harry," she said strongly trying to make it as easy as possible for him, "This is what you do, this is Harry Potter, go and fight the fight, but come back to me okay?"

"I promise," he replied kissing her deeply once more and then opening the door to the bright sunshine outside. "I'll get in touch as soon as I can, and don't worry about me." Ginny smiled with a look on her face which said that was not going to happen but Harry shrugged and smiled at her before apparating away to his office. Ginny sighed and bit back a fresh wave of tears, fingering the stone around her neck she closed the front door and headed back into the house to ready herself for a shift at the hospital.

Four days later Harry was sat in an old Romanian bar in a small village called Linden, it was a mixed muggle and wizarding village high up in the mountains, he had taken on the appearance of a much thinner, but still quite burly, Dudley Dursley, with blonde hair and a slightly menacing looking face which had a scar across the forehead. As Harry's lightening bolt was a cursed scar it could not be removed when metamorphosing however it could be transfigured to take on a new shape and it currently resembled a deep lasting gash made by a knife and gave him a look which made many people turn away in fear. Using a newly discovered branch of transfiguration magic they had been able to make Harry's change in appearance permanent unless it was removed by a Ministry auror. Knowing that this was a dangerous mission in which it was imperative that Harry was not recognised, and knowing that another person would be responsible for ensuring Harry continued to be metaporphed, who could also be lost at any time, the Ministry had decided to broach the subject of using this new, experimental, method on Harry and he had agreed feeling it would be much safer to be permanently metamorphed until he returned from the mission.

And so Harry had apparated to Romania as a burly, menacing looking blonde and he and his team had spent the last three nights attending the grubby bar in which he now sat. They had been given information by the Romanians that this was where some of the meetings had taken place, it was far off the beaten track and was frequented only by people with a similar look and demeanour to the one Harry had taken on. They had met up with the two Romanian aurors at a small shack to the north of the village on their first night, posing as five wizards on the run from various countries around the world they had decided upon the heinous crimes they were accused of and agreed to take on the story that they had banded together slowly and heard about this faction of wizards which they were interested in meeting. They sat in twos or alone at the bar each night never visiting all at the same time and always nursing a large glass of strong ale looking woeful and moaning about the dreadfulness of their lives to the bar tender who listened and grunted various responses but so far had not mentioned the group they were looking for.

Harry had decided that this night they would drop a hint about this new faction to the bar tender and hope that he might share a snippet of information with them, he had attended the bar alone and sat on a high bar stool holding his ale in a grubby hand, his greasy looking hair hanging limply around his face to emphasise the fact that he was supposed to be on the run from his own country. He grumbled a little about his problems and how difficult it was to be on the run and then regaled the barman with tales of the good old days when the Darkest Lord known to the wizarding world was running strong in Britain but he was just too young at the time to join up as a death eater, he shared his story about torturing an old witch into insanity with the Cruciatus curse and then laughed raucously as he explained how he had evaded the British Ministry and the infamous Harry Potter himself making it to Europe without being tailed. He even showed a faked and faded piece of parchment showing a wanted Dudley Dursley (Harry had chuckled to himself at the horrified looks this would have earned from Aunt Petunia had she ever seen it!) listing his crimes and showing the sentence of a lifetime in Azkaban when he was caught.

After another hour of sharing his tales of evasion with the barman he was joined by Abery, who grunted for a beer and sat nursing it for a good fifteen minutes before speaking to the barman in a hushed tone, "We have heard tell of a dark faction of wizards rising in this area." The barman stopped wiping the pot in his hand and gestured with his head towards a large and dirty looking wizard in the far corner of the room, he too was nursing a large tankard of ale and sat in stoney faced silence watching the interaction at the bar, they had noticed the same man sitting in the same place over the last two nights and had hoped he had something to do with the dark wizards they were currently trying to trace. Harry and Abery both turned to look at him and the wizard stared them back in the face, nobody spoke but the two foreigners nodded curtly at the other wizard and then turned back to the barman and continued to talk to each other about their supposed crimes.

After another hour or so the lone figure in the corner rose from his seat and returned his now empty tankard to the bar, he nodded at the man behind it and walked towards the exit as he passed by Harry and his accomplice he muttered in a barely audible tone, "Tomorrow, here, eleven o clock," and then left the bar leaving a cold blast of air in his wake as he closed the door behind him. Abery and Harry left the bar half an hour later thanking the barman for his information and heading in the direction of the shack at the end of the village, once inside they shared the news with the rest of their team and decided they would make a plan of action first thing in the morning.

Harry woke first and sat at the empty wooden table in the middle of the second room in the shack, they were using one room to sleep in and one room to live in which was cramped but bearable, he was joined shortly by the other men who made coffee and then sat down at the table to create a plan.

"We can't all go in at once," said Bavar, one of the Romanian aurors who had a naturally robust build which gave him an imposing look, "Perhaps Harry and Abery should go first as they have been invited and see how far into the group they can get, they won't be instantly trustworthy but if they spread their cover story and explain that there are more of us in the same predicament hoping to join the group then they may invite the rest of us in. They will surely be on high alert and I imagine we will be followed for a while we must ensue that we keep our work hidden in here at all times, the Ministry want us to collate a list of all the members of this faction and we must keep this under check at all times, if they find any of our information then who knows what they will do."

"What information are we looking for?" asked Kirov, the second Romanian auror who had joined them at the shack.

"As I said," Bavar answered, "We need a list of all the people involved in this group and we should note down any significant movements or activities which they share with any of us."

"If they are intending to work along the same lines as Voldemort and his followers as the trend has gone so far," Harry interrupted, "Then they will no doubt be organising some kind of demonstrations, so far they have taken various significant wizards to make their movement known but still hidden, as their numbers grow they will be wanting to make a large statement to show their power and the lengths they will go to in order to get what they want. Voldemort's death eaters stopped at nothing. If anyone hears of any kind of movement or suspicious activity you must report it to the rest of the team, the best way to get into the thick of the plans is if we split up and try to attach ourselves to others within the group rather than sticking to our own little group, dark wizards are not loyal to each other and will turn on each other in an instant, we must not be afraid to act as if we will turn on each other at any time. Most importantly we need to try and work out who the leader is, they will not divulge this information easily either as we will need to build an enormous amount of trust before he or she reveals themselves."

"Harry is right, we need to break away from each other once we are in, but be ever vigilant and aware of what is going on around you."

They spent the rest of the day discussing the best strategies for earning the trust of the dark wizards and by nightfall they were ready for action. Harry and Abery made their way to the local inn around half past ten and took a seat in the corner nursing a tankard each of ale and waiting for the wizard who had spoken to them the previous night to turn up. They were not disappointed when, at eleven o clock, the door opened and two men in dark cloaks entered the murky and empty room, one a tall, lanky man with dark, greasy hair and a crooked nose, the second one being the man from the previous night who was thick set with a bald head and a menacing look he nodded in the direction of Harry and Abery in the corner before they both walked over to the bar. Ordering a drink each they waited to be served and then made their way towards the corner table where the two auror spies were sitting, sliding into two empty seats the thick set man nodded at each of them in turn. Harry waited for one of them to speak first, "So what's your story?" asked the lankier man looking pointedly in Harry's direction.

"Running from the British aurors," he chortled quietly, "Tortured myself a filthy little mudblood with the Cruciatus curse," he cackled as he said it feeling wretched at himself for feigning enjoyment for such a heinous crime, "Ended up in the loony bin didn't she? I was too smart for them aurors though weren't I? Tried to catch me a dozen times, even that Harry 'St Mighty' Potter got put on the case, but I got away each time, no way I was going to Azkaban for a lifetime of misery!"

"Why d'ya come to Romania?" queried the thicker set man in a deep, gruff voice.

"Been hot footing it round Europe for a couple of years, but heard tell of a dark rising in the wizarding underworld, sounded like the kind of thing I wanted to be part of, never was old enough to become a fully fledged death eater in the days of Voldemort, though I did support him and his cause, worst thing that happened when that runt, Harry Potter," he spat out his own name again with venom, "Killed the Dark Lord, greatest power that ever lived he was, that's why I tortured the filthy mudblood, he wanted rid of them all didn't he, wanted them all bowing subservience to the rest of us pure wizards, best idea there ever was if you ask me. Came here looking for the same thing, a place where we could be the ruling power, under the right person of course." Harry looked the man square in the eyes as he spoke, his resolve never cracking as he made his point and gave his reasons for seeking out this group.

"What about him?" the lankier wizard asked nodding in the direction of Abery.

"Found him in Latvia a few months ago, running from his own Ministry in France, started talking about the woes of being on the run and how there must be a better life somewhere out there so I told him what I had heard about and asked him to join me, took us a few months to get here, travelling by night so as not to be seen or recognised, picked up a few others along the way too, staying up in a deserted shack to the north of this village, managed to put a few protective wards around it between us. I'm not so good with the protective magic but the unforgivables, now that's where I come into my own," Harry cackled again and Abery joined in before sharing his own story with the two dark wizards.

An hour or so later when they had also shared the stories of their fellow fugitives and drunk a few more rounds of ale, the two dark wizards rose from their seats and left, instructing Harry and Abery to hang around the village for a while. Neither of them had mentioned any kind of group or confirmed any of the things Harry and Abery had said about them, they took this as a sign that they were not going to be immediately accepted but that they would need to prove themselves worthy first. The men left the bar and Harry and Abery waited another half an hour before leaving themselves, nodding at the barman they left the building and made their way towards the little shack where the rest of the team were waiting with baited breath to find out what had happened. They seemed pleased with the progress that had been made in the mission and so early into it, though they all knew it would be a long wait to be accepted and they reiterated to each other the importance of being vigilant at all times.


	7. Chapter 7

**Okay, hope you enjoy this chapter but please please review, I love to hear what people think will happen! It's fun to know if people are going along the same lines as I am! I will update next chapter when I have more reviews!!!**

Chapter 7

A whole month had passed by since Harry had left and Ginny was sat in the kitchen being fussed over by Kreacher, she missed her husband terribly and even more so after learning the news she just had from Healer Jean, she had had her suspicions a week earlier but had finally had them confirmed during her shift that day at St Mungos. She was delighted with the news but wished she could share it with her husband. Ginny had kept herself busy for the last month taking on as many shifts as she could to take her mind off being alone, but now she knew she would need to lay off the multiple shifts and return to her usual load, she sighed knowing that she would now have to spend more time alone at home. She had thought that being at Grimmauld Place would be easier than with her parents but part of her was now beginning to realise some of the other reasoning behind Harry wanting her to stay there while he was away, not for the protection they offered but the company. However she reflected upon the fact that she did feel closer to Harry here where she could see his clothes hanging in the wardrobe and his things around the house.

She patted her stomach absentmindedly as she thought about Harry, a tear ran from her eye and she longed to hold him again, she had heard nothing from the Ministry since he had left, not that she had really expected to, and she took that as a sign that the mission was going well. She was waiting for Hermione to floo over as she always did on Tuesday evenings, ever since Harry had gone, she spent the evening with Ginny and Kreacher would cook them a delicious meal before they dismissed him and spent the evening catching up on the week's events. She was excited about this particular visit as she would be able to share her wonderful news with someone and if it couldn't be her husband then the next best thing would be her best friend. There was half an hour to wait before a whirl of green flames would signal the arrival of Hermione, the wards around Grimmauld Place were so high that floo appointments had to be made before you could turn up, Hermione was scheduled to appear at six pm every Tuesday and leave again at ten thirty, this did ensure that she was never late and Ginny could set her watch precisely by the floo each week. As always Hermione came with the timed floo, she was always ready early so she would not miss the crucial floo appointment and leave Ginny to face a lonely night at home, if the floo was missed she could always apparate to the front door and Ginny would let her in but Harry preferred to use this method as infrequently as possible as if people were watching they might see the traveller disappear suddenly as they reached the front step, it was a quiet street unlike the busy streets around the Ministry and St Mungos where people disappearing would be barely noticed.

The elder girl stepped out of the fireplace to see a glowing young witch with a broad smile on her face, a sight she was not used to seeing very often after Harry had gone away, Although Ginny tried to put on a brave face in the absence of her husband it was clear to her best friend that it was taking it's toll on the young woman. Hermione could not imagine what it would be like to have Ron leave her so soon into their marriage and though she often missed the 'golden trio' working on some important and dangerous mission she also knew that when they were off fighting the good fight Ron had been right by her side, Harry had always had to leave Ginny behind and the older girl could barely comprehend how she managed to cope. Hermione was equally worried about Harry at all times and missed him just as much as his wife did, but she was careful to hide her emotions in front of Ginny as she would be dealing with her own pain, the last few weeks had given Hermione an insight into what the younger girl must have gone through when the golden trio went off on their search for the horcruxes before the final battle and she was thankful once more that Ron had not gone into the dangerous life of an auror. The tricks and jokes he sometimes brought home with him could wind her up at times but at least he was bringing them and himself home each day and not disappearing on some dangerous mission for months at a time, she didn't think she would have the same strength as Ginny to cope without her husband for an unlimited amount of time.

"Something's made you happy!" she said brightly as she hugged her best friend. Ginny beamed back at rose from the chair she was seated in to get Hermione a drink, Kreacher immediately jumped up and fussed around her, "Mrs Potter must rest, Kreacher will get what she needs, Kreacher has seen how a woman must rest, he waited on his Mistress when she was to rest, both times, and Kreacher did everything she asked," he winced as if reliving some painful memory, something he did often when talking about his time serving the Black family, "Mrs Potter must sit," he almost ordered and then looked around in a panic for something to punish himself with for speaking out of turn to his mistress.

"Kreacher, NO!" Ginny said sternly sensing what he was about to do, "Thank you for your concern but I will be fine, you do not need to do everything for me ," she smiled at him and he looked at her through his large, bulbous eyes, smiling back, nodding his head and muttering something under his breath as he went back to the stove where he was cooking a hearty casserole for the two witches.

"What's he twittering about?" Hermione asked her friend with a look of confusion on her face, Ginny sighed at her before smiling once more and saying, "Hermione, I'm pregnant!"

The darker haired witch's eyes grew larger as she stared at the red headed one, tears began to fill them and she raced forwards to hug her friend once more, "Oh, Ginny that's…that's wonderful news."

"Thank you," Ginny chuckled coughing slightly as her friend had winded her slightly with the tight hug.

"Oh, sorry," said Hermione realising what she had done, "Oh I'm so happy for you! When? How long till...?"

"Just a month! I've had an inkling for a week but had to have it confirmed by Healer Jean at work, but I have about eight months to go which means I will be due sometime after Christmas, mid to end of January she thinks. The wand test shows that I am exactly twenty eight days which means that it happened a couple of days before Harry left." Ginny thought back on the night they had argued and then had lustful, passion filled sex in the empty bedroom on the upper floor, it had been sex and not love making but it had been borne from an argument fuelled by their incessant love for each other, they had argued passionately because they loved each other so deeply and though it had been raw and painful for both of them Ginny hoped that something wonderful had come out of it. It wasn't the sensual and gentle sex they usually shared but it had been created to vent their feelings, feelings which came from their absolute and eternal love for each other and since her first inclination that she might have been pregnant Ginny had liked to think that the ultimate payment for love had been created from it, the payment of eternal love in the form of a child, a child that they had made, and a child that they would love.

"Does Harry know?" Hermione enquired but Ginny immediately shook her head, "How could he?" she replied.

"He said you could contact the Ministry if it was important, this is important Ginny he should know, he'll be delighted."

"I know," she had imagined telling him over and over again while she had been waiting for her friend and wished she could see the look of delight on his face, she had been tempted to contact the Ministry but then thought better of it. "I would like nothing more than to be able to tell him, Hermione, but he is on a dangerous mission and he would want to come back to me, either that or he would worry about me even more than he probably is, I want him to focus on what he has to do so he can return home soon and then we can concentrate on being a real family."

Hermione opened her mouth to argue but realised she was right, Harry would only worry even more about her and she knew he needed to keep his mind on what he was doing, when they had been searching for the horcruxes he had had Ginny on his mind, but knowing that she was safe had helped him to go on and do what he had to do, he had remained focused and got the job done. If Harry was worrying about her and a baby he might lose focus and she dreaded to think what might happen then.

"Are you sure you should stay here though Gin? Maybe you should go to the Burrow now like Harry wanted, your mum can look after you, you'll need to take it a bit easier now you know."

"Hermione, I'm pregnant, not an invalid! And besides I have Kreacher, you saw him just then, he might drive me crazy in the process but he'll make sure I rest and do whatever I have to do. I've cut down my shifts at the hospital again and I fully intend to take it easy, this is mine and Harry's," she put her hand to her stomach again lovingly and stroked up and down, "And I am not going to let anything happen to him or her." She smiled wistfully once more wishing it was her husband in front of her now but dashed the thought away, she could not have that at the moment and she was determined to get on and look after their child until he returned home.

They spent the next few hours talking about pregnancy and babies while eating the sumptuous meal made by Kreacher, Ginny gave the older girl permission to tell Ron but made her swear she would tell nobody else, and she would make sure Ron told no one else until after Thursday evening when they would all be visiting the Burrow for the weekly feast and she could tell her whole family the news. Hermione was happy to leave her friend in high spirits at the end of the evening and though it was clear that she still missed her husband terribly the younger witch seemed to have a new focus for her life, one that would keep her happier until Harry returned to her and they could begin the perfect, happy life that she was clearly looking forward to. Hermione just hoped that it would be sooner rather than later, she felt bad that she knew Harry was going to be a father when he didn't know himself and she tried to imagine what it would be like to not be able to share such wonderful news with her own husband had it been her that was pregnant. They had decided to wait a while before bringing children into their life, they were both busy at work and were enjoying the life that they shared as a married couple. Children could wait a few years for now, though she did think to herself, as she stepped out of the fireplace in her own home, that it would have been nice for they and Harry to have had children around the same time.

If Ginny thought Kreacher and Hermione had been fussy when they found out about her pregnancy it was nothing compared to her mother, she practically wrapped the girl in cotton wool for the next three weeks until finally Ginny had to say something to her father who managed to persuade the excited Grandmother-to-be (again) to take it easy and let her daughter breathe. The news had gone down well at the Burrow and everyone was delighted for them both, though they all felt as bad as Hermione did about the fact that Harry did not yet know, Molly had tried to persuade Ginny to contact the Ministry and arrange to talk with Harry somehow but Arthur and the other Weasley boys had agreed that she was right in waiting, Harry was on a dangerous mission and did not need it complicating with news that, although both important and wonderful, could wait until he returned home safely. Molly had moaned a little and talked about Harry's rights but Bill had been able to persuade her by playing on her soft spot for Harry which realised that he would be more focused on his mission if he did not know yet, she just hoped along with everyone else that it would not be much longer as she missed the young man in her daughter's life as much as everyone else in the room.

She had flooed to her daughter's home on an almost daily basis to fuss over her and ensure that she was taking it easy, by the fifth day Ginny had regretted setting up the daily floo appointment but knew if she cancelled it her mother would be highly offended. She gave Kreacher careful instructions for looking after Ginny until it had driven her mad and she had eventually invited her Father over to talk about it, Molly had then calmed down a little and curbed her visits to every other day. By the end of the second month Ginny was settled into a gentle routine with Kreacher attending to her when she needed to rest and her friends and family popping in often but not so much that they crowded her, the only thing she yearned for was being able to share the whole experience with Harry, she seemed to miss him more and more as each day went by.

The golden stone still hung around her neck and glowed as brightly as it had the day Harry had given it to her, she thought back almost daily on what Harry had told her about it's creation and still marvelled at the way something so beautiful could be created from love. She mused that now she was able to give Harry something just a wonderful and solid back in the form of the small life growing inside of her. She had had a letter from the Ministry a few weeks earlier to say that the mission was going well and that they had had contact once from the team, this pacified her a little but as it was a top secret mission they were of course unable to share any information with her other then to tell her that he was alive.

It was another Tuesday evening when she was waiting for the green flames to whirl and signal the arrival of her best friend again that she heard a tapping at the kitchen window, a striking looking Ministry owl was flapping outside the window and Kreacher ran to let it in as a mass of bushy brown hair and SPEW wizard robes spun into view in the fireplace. Kreacher gave the eagle owl a treat as he took the important roll of parchment from the creature and scuttled back across the kitchen to lay it in the lap of his mistress.

"What's that?" Hermione asked as she stepped out of the inglenook.

"Message from the Ministry," Ginny said quietly, she was never sure whether these reports would herald good or bad news and she always felt a flutter in her heart if one arrived, something which was a regular occurrence in Harry's line of work. Her friend hurried to her side as Ginny unrolled the parchment and began to read the words written in perfect script on the page, her face became white and the words began to blur as tears pricked her eyes, she had seen only three words on the page, three words that could define the rest of her life. The letter fell from her hands and Hermione became worried as she looked at the tears falling in rivulets down the younger girls cheeks, taking it in her own shaking hands she began to read.

_Dear Mrs Ginevra Potter,_

_We regret to inform you that during the course of action for the Ministry Auror Office of Great Britain, your husband, Mr Harry James Potter is missing, presumed dead. His disappearance occurred on the night of 13__th__ June and a number of bodies, confirmed by the auror office to be Ministry aurors were found two days later. The bodies have been returned to Great Britain where they have been identified. The body of your husband cannot be confirmed as he was posing under a metamorphos at the time of his disappearance, but an unidentifiable body was found at the scene with the same build and stature of the appearance your husband had taken on and it is believed to be that of your husband as the rest of the bodies have been confirmed as those of the team he was working with._

_We would once more like to express our deepest regret at this unfortunate news and ask that you attend a meeting at the Ministry at your earliest convenience to discuss further matters._

_Yours sincerely_

_Kingsley Shacklebolt_

_Minister for Magic _

Hermione felt as if she had been hit by a bolt of lightening, she was sure her heart actually stopped as she read the words 'presumed dead' and rivers of tears began to drip down her own face onto the parchment making the words run as they splashed onto the fresh ink. She looked back to her friend who was now sobbing uncontrollably into her hands and couldn't even begin to imagine what she might be about to go through. Kreacher watched on in amazement as Hermione walked over to her friend and took her in her arms rocking her rhythmically, the two women sobbed and rocked for a few minutes before the older witch beckoned for Kreacher and told him to take the letter and go to Ron at her home and give it to him. Kreacher disappeared from the kitchen and appeared moments later gripping Ron who wore a grief stricken look on his white face which crumpled into tears at the sight of his wife and sister weeping into each others arms on the cold stone floor of the kitchen in Grimmauld Place.


	8. Chapter 8

**Okay since I got so many nice reviews about the last chapter I thought I would update for you now!! It's really nice to see that people like my stories as much as I enjoy writing them! Sorry about the cliff hangers but I like them!**

**Sorry to be so cruel to Ginny and Harry too, I do honestly love them, but there wouldn't be a story otherwise!! I make no promises yet as to whether or not Harry is still alive, I leave you to decide at the end of this chapter!**

**Please review!**

Chapter 8

Ginny was staring almost without blinking into the flames of the sitting room fire, wrapped in a blanket which someone had placed over her and perched up against the back of a comfortable chair near the window, Hermione and Ron were sat apart on a couch on the opposite wall staring at various spots on the opposite wall and her mother was down in the kitchen making tea and trying to keep herself busy. It had been twelve hours since the letter had arrived and Ginny had forgotten what it was like to feel anything, ever since reading the words 'presumed dead' she had lost all feeling in her entire body other than a deep pit of despair and misery stretching out unending into the future. She could not remember how she had come to be in the sitting room or even when the rest of her family had arrived, she had cried for a while, her eyes still stung from the salty tears but they had stopped some time ago, stopped when the numbness crept in. Ron had had the unfortunate task of having to share the news with everyone else while Hermione tried her best to comfort her friend without losing her own mind to the grief she was experiencing, concentrating on the other young woman in the room was at present keeping it at bay but Hermione knew as soon as she was alone the flood gates would open and the reality of it all would hit her.

The Weasley brothers had arrived one by one throughout the night as the dreadful news spread and Ginny now found herself surrounded by loved ones who were afraid to speak to her and ask her how she was feeling, no one knew what to say to the girl who had received word that her husband and father of her unborn child was probably dead, they flitted in and out of the room at various intervals returning to the kitchen where they shared their own feelings of grief with each other and wondered if their youngest sibling would ever be the same again after this. No one had slept at all during the last twelve hours and they had barely spoken a word to each other either. Kreacher had retreated into his cupboard to mourn his master in his own way but he seemed to reappear at various intervals, hovering around Ginny but not daring to interrupt her grief.

It was Ron who had brought Ginny to the sitting room once the family had begun to arrive, Hermione and she were still sitting on the cold stone floor rocking and sobbing, Molly had been unable to offer any words of comfort to her distraught daughter and was unsure of how to approach her to at least try. Ron had lifted his wife from around his little sister and put his own arm around the fragile young witch pulling her gently to her feet he led her up to the sitting room where he had sat her in the chair and asked Kreacher to light the fire. After a crushing hug from Molly Hermione had removed herself from the kitchen and followed Ron up the stairs sitting herself on the couch opposite Ginny. She was her best friend and she had been there for her when Harry had left her before their wedding, she was just as determined to be there for her through this no matter how hard it was also going to be for her. Ron and Hermione had stayed in the room since that moment, neither had moved and neither had tried to comfort the other, they wanted nothing more than to seek solace in the arms of the person they loved, but the other girl in the room could no longer do that and they did not want to flaunt the fact that they still could in front of her. They had simply waited, both desperately trying not to be swallowed up by the grief they were experiencing at the loss of their best and truest friend, the one who had been there for them, and whom they had been there for.

Unknown to each other they played over different memories from their lives with Harry and each one seemed to twist like a knife in their hearts, games of quidditch at the Burrow, Christmas at Hogwarts, trips into Hogsmeade, having tea with Hagrid, the search for the horcruxes, their weddings. Thousands of images flashed through their minds over the hours each involving time spent with Harry, the saviour of the wizarding world, their best friend, the husband to the lonely young girl in the arm chair and the father to the child she was carrying who would never know him and who he had never known about. Hermione bit back her sobs as Ron ached to reach out and comfort her, bury his face in her hair and let out his own surge of despair.

The fireplace was a blur to Ginevra Potter, all she kept seeing were those same three words over and over again blurring on the parchment, three words which had immediately spelled the end of her life with Harry, she absentmindedly reached up to her neck and began to finger the pendant on the chain that she wore around her neck, as she ran it up and down the chain her breath caught in her throat and she released a small gasp, both Hermione and Ron's heads shot up at the sound and Ginny stared straight through them as she thought something over.

"Gin," Ron asked tentatively, "What's the matter?" Ginny just continued to stare through him still fingering the chain around her neck.

"What is that?" Hermione asked quizzically noticing the golden rock on the chain in her fingers, but Ginny did not answer her, she simply rose from her chair and walked over to the mirror on the wall above the fireplace, she stared at the reflection of the bright shining rock in her fingers and gasped again. Another reflection joined hers in the mirror, that of a girl with brown, bushy hair wearing a concerned look on her face. "Ginny, what is that?" she repeated.

"Nothing," Ginny replied stuffing it back into her blouse, "Just something Harry gave me before…" she drifted off and turned to face them, "I…I need a minute, I'll be back." The younger witch flung out of the room and bounded up the stairs two at a time until she reached her bedroom, the bedroom she had shared with her husband, sitting down on the bed she pulled the necklace back out and unfastened the clasp under her hair. She looked down at the shimmering rock again something she had done daily since he had left but something she had not even thought about in the last twelve hours, it was shining as brightly as ever. What did this mean? Harry had not fully explained its power but he had said it was similar to a philosopher's stone, when the stone was destroyed then the person died, would this work the opposite way? Harry had said that this stone worked on love, so surely the only thing that could destroy it was if the love died but what if the person who created it died? Would the stone die too? What happened to their love when a person died, was it gone forever and if it did not then where did it go? The stone had not dimmed at all, which meant that Harry's love for her was still alive so did that mean that Harry was still alive? He had promised that he would come back to her, was he still somewhere out there trying to do that?

A small beacon of hope had suddenly flared inside of Ginny, they had said in the letter that they couldn't officially identify the body they believed to be Harry because he had been metamorphed at the time, if the Ministry had no actual proof that Harry was dead then maybe he wasn't. The more she thought about it the more she believed he was still alive, Ginny was suddenly sure that if he was gone forever then she would somehow know, their love was so strong and they were linked to each other so deeply, that had been shown by his ability to create the stone she was now fastening back around her neck while the thoughts pummelled around her head, surely she would feel it if he was gone completely. Her eyes began to find a small amount of their brightness again as she remembered that the letter had said presumed dead, not actually dead, there was still a strong possibility that Harry was still alive, in fact the more Ginny thought about it the more she convinced herself that it was true. A soft knock at the door distracted her from her thoughts and she whispered, "Come in," Hermione's grave face appeared around the door a second later and she asked softly, "Are you alright? I know it's a silly question but…" she halted as she noticed a curious smile on Ginny's face.

"You are going to say I'm mad, I know, but I think Harry's still alive." Hermione gaped at her friend and if the situation hadn't been so serious Ginny might have chuckled at her. "I know what you are going to say but, it says presumed dead and they can't prove that the body is his and -" she clutched at her throat and felt the golden stone beneath her blouse, "Hermione, what do you think happens to love when a person dies?" Crossing the room to sit by Ginny on the bed Hermione frowned as she contemplated such a profound question. "I don't know," she replied.

"I mean if the person dies then the love must go with them don't you think? I mean you always know that they loved you but if the actual spirit of the person has gone then hasn't the actual love?"

"I…I really don't know, I mean Harry's mother's love stayed around to protect him all his life until he was seventeen, so does that mean her love was still there?"

"But that magic only lasted because he was placed with her blood relatives, even though they didn't love him themselves, the blood was what kept the protection alive wasn't it, the blood which bore Harry and gave him the love while ever he was a child, but when he turned of age that protection went away, so it can't have been the actual love that was protecting him, just a symbol of that love."

"Why are you asking Ginny?"

"I just…I feel or rather I don't feel that he is really gone, I mean I'm sure if he was dead then I would feel it in my heart, we are so closely linked that I'm sure, I mean," she looked imploringly at the older girl, "Don't you think you would know if it was Ron? And I know they were twins so they had a different kind of connection but George said he could feel it when Fred died, he somehow knew as soon as it had happened, wouldn't I be able to feel that if Harry was…?" she couldn't say the actual words now, now that she had convinced herself that he was still alive. Hermione stared at the younger witch, not sure what to say, everyone always said that love was the most powerful magic in the world and a whole room was dedicated to it in the department of mysteries, but how much of the mystery had actually been unravelled? Did love die with the person or did it live on? Hermione was not sure she ever truly understood the protective magic Harry got from his mother, what was it that actually gave the protection? The love, or the blood which ran through his body and through that of the rest of his family? And if it were Ron, would she be able to tell, were they so closely linked that she would know if something unthinkable happened to him? She remembered George telling her how he had felt when Fred died, but then twins did have a heightened sense of each other which she found truly intriguing, could true lovers feel a similar kind of bond?

"What has made you think of this Ginny?" She didn't want to dismiss the idea from her friends head, and indeed now she had heard it was beginning to hope that she could be right, but she also wanted to remain realistic to the fact that a lot of evidence was pointing to the fact that her best friend could in fact be gone from this world forever. Ginny shook her head but Hermione gave her a glare which told her that she knew something else was going on and she gave in to the older girls stare. Removing the stone from her neck she quietly told her about the special stone, about how it was created, where Harry had learned about it and what she had been thinking about when she realised that it was still shining brightly. Hermione was amazed at the stone and the fact that Harry had been able to create it, she knew he was a very powerful wizard more powerful than she would ever be, but she had never heard of the stone before and therefore could not offer any ideas as to whether or not the stone would die if the person whose love had created it died. She marvelled at the idea that love could create something so solid and magnificent and was proud of Harry, he had always known that his and Ginny's love was stronger than anything she had ever known and this just proved it even more.

"You can't tell anyone about it though, Hermione, Harry told me that I couldn't even tell you and Ron about it, but what if?" she looked at it's glowing amber shine once more and paused, "What if this means that he's still alive somewhere? I can't give up hope Hermione, not yet, I don't think I could live if I did. I've waited for Harry many times in my life and I can do it again if I have to, I will do it if it means he will come back to me, he promised me that he would come back this time and until I see real proof I can't believe that he is gone." She looked into the eyes of her best friend who returned her gaze with a smile and said, "I can't believe it either and I too won't believe it until I see the concrete proof, Harry is an amazingly accomplished wizard who has survived the wrath of one of the most evil wizards ever known and he can survive a lot more; Harry loves you more than anything I have ever known, he said he would come back to you this time and I believe that he will."

"Thank you," Ginny whispered to her friend, throwing her arms around her in a tight hug and laughing into her hair, the two girls were interrupted by Ron, who was surprised to see the two women smiling and hugging each other. His wife explained their news, although they did not yet tell him about the stone, and though he looked a little dubious it was clear that he too was desperate to believe that his best friend was still alive; with encouragement drawn from the fact that his all knowing wife seemed to believe it Ron agreed with the two women and hoped beyond hope that they were right.

Convincing the rest of the family that Harry could still be alive was much easier than they had expected it to be, George naturally agreed that Ginny would, in some way, know if Harry was truly gone and they were so desperate to believe that he was still alive that they too were ready to wait for some concrete proof before conceding to the idea that he was gone forever. The Ministry had made mistakes before as they were all well aware and the whole family found themselves hoping that this would be one of those times. They were all still worried about Ginny and her health, especially with the baby, the stress of this would not be good for her, even if she had cheered at the thought, or the knowledge as she insisted on saying, that Harry was still alive the wait for news and constant worry about him would take it's toll on her and the baby. Molly tried in vain to get her to stay at the Burrow again insisting that Harry really would want that, but Ginny was as adamant as ever that she wanted to be in their home with his things around her, and she was eager to make a start on a nursery for the baby as soon as possible, she eventually conceded to allowing Charlie to come and stay with her for a while.

He had been posted back to England for a while to work with some dragons being trained for use in Gringotts; he had intended to stay at the Burrow with his parents but managed to convince Ginny that he would much rather stay with a sibling, his mother had been so relieved at the idea of someone being with Ginny that she had not made one complaint about him abandoning his childhood home in favour of his sister's house. The youngest Weasley had known immediately why he was suggesting staying at Grimmauld Place when he could have spent a few months living with his mother's home cooking but she was secretly pleased that he wanted to protect her and she had been a little lonely without another human in the house, it would be nice to have someone around for a while, she would never admit it to her family but she missed being around so many people all the time. She used the ancient magical charms used in the wards for the house to allow Charlie access through the floo network without an appointment and to open the front door without being invited in so he could use the house as his own home for the duration and he was closeted in the spare bedroom within a day.

A week after the arrival of the letter Ginny was looking pale but brighter than she had done in a while, her determination to find Harry alive seemed to drive her back to high spirits, she was adamant that he would be back in time for the baby's birth and was intent on finding out exactly what had happened in Romania, through whatever means possible. Harry had done more than anyone should ever need to for the Ministry and they could repay him by helping his wife find out everything she needed to know, if they were not going to search for him properly as appeared to be the case. She had a meeting with the head of the auror office later that day to organise Harry's affairs and she intended to find out as much information as she could about his disappearance before she left the office, no matter what happened to her. Hermione had agreed to accompany her on the visit and Ron was joining them as back up in case anything got out of hand. Kreacher had made a sumptuous breakfast for the two Weasley's who were seated in the kitchen waiting for their sister in law and brother to arrive at the appointed time they had set, Charlie was flicking through a copy of the Daily Prophet, which the delivery owl had finally been able to deliver to him after he had been booked to pass the wards in the house at a given time each day. "Rita Skeeter hasn't managed to get wind of it all yet I see the Ministry can get one thing right thankfully."

"Well hopefully the news will never get out, but I seriously doubt it, she has a way of finding things out, doesn't she? I'm just glad she can't get in here, I've seen her a few times since Harry left, sitting out there on the square staring in the general direction of the house but unable to see it, I think she wanted to get a story out of me, not that I'd ever say anything to the wretched young woman, it's unbelievable how much she can twist anything to make it newsworthy."

"Well I won't argue with you there Sis!" Charlie replied a proud look on his face at the way his sister was dealing with her predicament and how much she was prepared to stand up to for the man that she loved. Charlie Weasley was beginning to wish he could find someone who would love him just half as much as his little sister loved her husband, all the Weasley's seemed to be settling down, even George was getting on well with the young witch who worked in the shop with he and Ron and Charlie was actually starting to feel a little jealous that he had so far been unable to find that special person for his life. It was true that he was more of a 'ladies man' than any of his other brothers but he was now beginning to realise that he was ready to settle down like the rest of them and he wanted someone who would love him with the same passion that Ginny loved Harry. A sudden whirl of flames in the fireplace distracted him from the newspaper and he looked up to see his youngest brother stepping out of them, followed seconds later by his wife who dusted herself down and then went into perfect 'Hermione' organisation mode.

"Right Ginny, we shall go to the Ministry for the meeting by floo, I think that would be best from here, I think there may be a few reporters outside, they seem to be getting wind that something has happened to Harry because they were outside our flat all night waiting for us to pop out for something. Ron's going to accompany us to the auror office and wait outside while we meet with Drindle, does that sound alright? Will we need to make appointments for me and Ron"

Ginny nodded at her friend as she glanced down at a parchment in her hand, no doubt, she thought to herself, a list of questions to make sure she got answers to. Ginny quickly organised the appointments and the three friends flooed one by one out of the kitchen of Grimmauld Place shouting 'The Ministry' as they left Charlie Weasley to his thoughts and his copy of the wizarding worlds top selling newspaper.


	9. Chapter 9

**Thank you as always to my reviewers, I appreciate the lovely things people have said about my writing! Just another quick update for you all, will you find out here if Harry is really gone or not? Read on and find out, oh and don't forget to tell me what you think!!**

Chapter 9

"Mrs Weasley, Mrs Potter," Alistor Drindle coughed uncomfortably, "Please take a seat," he indicated two chairs at the opposite side of his desk to where he himself now sat. Looking sympathetically in Ginny's direction he began to say what they had come hear. "Mrs Potter, please can I express my deepest regret at the loss of your husband, not only at the personal loss you have suffered but also our regret at having lost a truly talented and superior auror."

"Thank you," Ginny offered curtly, the darker haired witch beside her was beginning to fume inside already at the sheer nerve this older man had, regretting his own loss of an auror to the wife of the auror in question, she was amazed at Ginny's coolness about the comment but realised they had more important things to discuss.

Drindle continued, "I understand that you will have questions about what happened to Harry, and I will try to give you as much information as I can, however you must understand that the mission Harry was involved in was top secret and much of the information is classified, therefore there may be certain areas we cannot discuss with you." Ginny nodded without making any comment as Hermione found herself becoming more furious at every sentence that came out of the man's mouth.

"The mission appeared to be going well, Mrs Potter, Harry had managed to infiltrate the group he had been sent to investigate and the five aurors involved appeared to have been accepted, we were confident that they would collect the necessary information and return to the Ministry at their earliest convenience. However it seems that the evidence they were collecting was discovered by one of the members of the group shortly before a demonstration of their power was due to take place through the village where they were staying. They were captured and restrained in the shack where they had been staying, it appears that they attempted an escape but during the demonstration the building in which they were housed was set on fire and four people perished in the fire, these four severely burned bodies were recovered and taken back to the Romanian Ministry by aurors called in to tackle the demonstration.

"The two Romanian aurors accompanying Harry and his team on the mission were identified through dental records as was the body of our own auror, Croft. Throughout the mission Mr Potter was fully metamorphosed using a new and experimental branch of transfiguration magic, the fourth recovered body was of similar build and stature to the one your husband had taken on before leaving the Ministry, however as this persona does not have any wizarding records, dental or otherwise, we cannot officially conform that it is the body of your husband, though we can almost assure you that it is." He looked uncomfortably at his feet and Hermione used the pause to ask one of her pertinent questions. "But surely upon death Harry's body would have reverted back to its original form?"

"Unfortunately that is not known, Mrs Weasley, as I said this was a new and experimental branch of transfiguration magic, we do not know if the magic wears off upon death as Harry was the first person to die while under the metamorphose. In hindsight it would have been more sensible for us to create records on the metamorphed form that your husband took on before he left, but unfortunately we did not do this as it was only decided that he would use the magic on the morning that he left. The metamorph process was carried out by our trained aurors and could only be removed by them, unfortunately we do not know if it can be removed after death either."

"So the body could quite easily be that of someone else and not my husband?" Ginny asked fingering the stone around her neck which was hidden by a high necked jumper.

"Well," Drindle coughed again, "That is highly unlikely Mrs Potter."

"But not impossible Mr Drindle?"

"Mrs Potter I can assure you it is most improbable."

"But not impossible," Hermione interjected in a firm tone glaring into the eyes of the weak looking man sat before them, how he had ever made it to head of the auror office she would never know. He was a weedy looking man who appeared terrified to be having such a conversation with the two women in front of him.

"Well, no not impossible, I suppose it could theoretically be someone else, though I would not like you to get your hopes up, as I said the other bodies were confirmed as those of three other aurors involved in the mission and the Ministry have reported that the fourth is that of your husband. Unfortunately as we cannot officially confirm that the body is that of your husband we cannot officially declare him dead until he has been missing for seven years, I am afraid that that is wizarding law. However we have our own rules for accessing accounts and the funds set up for an auror's spouse can be tapped into immediately if they are presumed to be dead."

"Mr Drindle, I am not interested in money, I have what I need to live on and much more, what I am looking for is answers and in the long run, the body of my husband be it dead or alive, and until I see concrete proof that he is dead then I will not believe that it is so, whether seven years pass or seventy. What happened to Abery?"

"Sorry?" Drindle replied and Hermione felt the blood rise in her neck once more.

"Abery," Ginny continued using a calm and controlled voice, "You said only four bodies were recovered, I believe Abery was also assigned to Harry's team on this mission. That would make five aurors in total, what about his body?"

"We have been unable to locate Mr Abery at present, we have not recovered any more unidentified bodies and he is listed as missing in action, though we are doing everything within our power to locate him."

"And what exactly does that entail?" Hermione interjected, desperate to get as much information as possible.

"I am afraid that I am not at liberty to divulge such information to the general public. As soon as we locate Abery we shall see if he can shed any light on the matter and hopefully he will confirm whether the fourth body was indeed that of your husband, until we locate him I am afraid there is nothing more I can offer you." He looked uncomfortably at his shoes as he spoke, refusing to look either of them in the eyes, this gave Hermione the impression that he was hiding something.

"What kind of time scale are you working on to find Abery? I am sure you are keen to have him back in the country to answer your questions as soon as possible." Hermione interjected once more.

"Again I am unable to divulge such information, but rest assured we are hoping it will happen as soon as possible." Hermione could feel the heat rising in the back of her neck once more as the weedy little man in front of them continued to deflect their questions, once again staring at his desk rather than at the two women sat in front of him, Hermione found this very insulting and thought he should at least have the decency to look into the face of the woman sat in front of him whom he was declaring a widow.

"I am sorry that I am unable to offer you anymore Mrs Potter, when you are ready for the funds you are entitled to I will personally make sure they are released to you, and as soon as we have any more news I will inform you and we can hold another meeting. Once again I express my regret at your loss and my deepest sympathies go out to you and your family." He rose from his seat behind the desk and offered his hand to Ginny, she shook it politely before turning to walk out of the office. At the office door she coughed and spun around to face the head auror once more, "May I clear out my husband's desk while I am here?"

"I am afraid that we cannot let you into his office, it is now closed and all of his things are being removed, we will send his personal items to your home at our earliest convenience. I am sure you understand that our records are in that room and many of the case files which Harry has worked on including his final mission, we cannot let members of the public have any access to these files at all." She nodded curtly in his direction and Hermione marvelled at the way she had kept her cool throughout the whole interaction, she on the other hand was ready to explode but kept herself in check for the sake of her friend.

"Thank you for your time," Ginny muttered as she walked out of the door, Ron was waiting for the two of them in the reception area and he stood up to greet them as they entered the room, "How did it go?" he asked softly. Hermione opened her mouth to speak but Ginny whispered, "Not here, let's go back to Grimmauld Place where we can discuss this in private." Her brother and his wife followed Ginny back to the atrium where they used the floo network to return to the kitchen of Ginny's home. Charlie was still sitting at the table reading the paper but he put it away as he saw the trio arrive one by one and take a seat at the table. Kreacher ran around getting them all drinks and sandwiches as the two girls shared their news with the red-headed boys.

"Something didn't add up there Gin," Hermione commented after they had told the two boys everything the head auror had told them, "The shifty way he acted when he was saying they were trying to locate Abery but couldn't tell us how long that might take, I didn't like him at all."

"I know, and why couldn't I go into Harry's office? I've been in there before when he's been away, in fact I went in a couple of days after he had left because he'd left some things in his desk drawer, Drindle didn't have a problem then, and you two have been in before, when I was taken by Lestrange I know Harry left you in his office while he went off searching for me, you could have looked at his case files any time you wanted to then."

"I think they're trying to cover something up," Hermione replied, "They know something about Abery, he had looked us in the eye for the entire conversation until we asked about him, and then it was shifty looks and staring at his desk until we left. There must be some of the case files in Harry's office, they probably won't have cleared everything out of them yet which is why they wouldn't have wanted you going in there, he's told me before that the cases stay open in the lead aurors desk until they are over, even if something happens to the leader. It seems a bit lax to me really but I bet there's some information in there that might tell us something." At these words Ginny rose from her chair and left the room in a whirl, the three Weasley's staring after her, "Have you been rubbing off on her?" Ron asked his wife who blushed and tapped him on the arm, "Well," he continued, "It is something you would do, go running off with an idea and tell us nothing," His wife glared at him as Ginny returned to the room carrying something which looked familiar to them all, Harry's invisibility cloak.

"He left this here in case I needed it as protection," Ginny informed them, "Could we use it to get into Harry's office and have a look around?"

"Wow Gin, you're getting scary, Hermione is definitely rubbing off on you!"

"And what is wrong with that?" Hermione spat indignantly glaring at her husband.

"Nothing," he implored holding up his hands, "It's a good thing!" Hermione smiled with embarrassment and allowed the conversation to turn to devising a strategic plan to get into the Ministry and hunt around Harry's office and as soon as possible.

By five o clock that afternoon the plan was ready to be executed they just had to wait until nightfall, when the Ministry would be empty, before they could enter unnoticed. Ginny had pleaded with them all to be allowed to join them but Hermione had finally convinced her not to by saying, "Gin if you won't protect yourself for Harry, then at least protect his baby, you need to take it easy, anything could happen at the Ministry and he won't thank you, or us, if anything happens to your child." Ginny had not been able to argue with that as her maternal instinct to protect her unborn offspring had kicked in, she would make sure that this baby was safe and looked after for when Harry returned.

After a hearty meal, made by Kreacher, of meat pie, roast potatoes and vegetables that could have put Molly's cooking to shame Ron and Hermione were ready to go to the Ministry and see what they could find in Harry's office, they would use the visitors entrance, covering themselves in the invisibility cloak so as not to be seen by any night watch wizards. The tricky part would be getting into Harry's office, but the likelihood that they had changed the passwords, which Ginny knew, was slim. It was a hassle changing them and as aurors were sworn to secrecy when entering the profession it was widely known that breaking and entering an aurors office would be almost impossible, however they did not bank on the fact that Harry Potter no longer kept anything from his wife, even, it seemed, the passwords into the aurors office.

Charlie was staying at the house with Ginny to wait for the Weasley couple to return, hopefully full of information, they could not have fitted a third person under the cloak had they wanted to especially, a tall Charlie Weasley. As it was Ron had to stoop in order to keep his feet hidden by the cloak and Hermione had to walk along clumsily behind her husband she could scarcely imagine now that they had once fitted all three of them under the cloak comfortably and it made her feel warm inside to think back on those wonderful days at school when the cloak was used for less dangerous missions than the one that lay ahead of them.

"Be careful you two," Charlie warned as Ron and Hermione prepared to leave via the front door of Grimmauld Place in order to apparate to the telephone box which housed the entrance to the Ministry of Magic.

"Charlie, mate, we've been in worse situations than this one, trust me, breaking into the auror office at the Ministry and collecting some kind of evidence is going to be a piece of cake," he chuckled though with a little trepidation in his voice. "It's just we usually have Harry with us too," he whispered to his wife so Charlie couldn't hear. He was thinking back to the last time they had tried to infiltrate the Ministry without being noticed and how it had ended up with them having to go on the run to keep Voldemort and his Ministry from finding them. However, he thought back on this other mission, they had succeeded in getting the horcrux that they had been looking for so maybe this mission would be as successful in getting information, even if they did somehow end up almost getting caught again.

They closed the front door behind them and the two Weasley siblings left on the inside of the house waited until they had heard two POPs before making their way back to the kitchen to wait, they had no idea how long it would take Ron and Hermione to get into the office and hopefully find something useful, so they prepared themselves for a long wait. Talking over insignificant things lasted about half an hour, a couple of games of wizard chess took them another hour until Charlie's indignation at losing to his sister twice in a row spoilt his mood and they decided to clear it away, "I take it you are used to winning?" he asked as they tidied up, Ginny chuckled as she replied, "Oh yes, Harry likes to pretend he is letting me win, but he is a dreadful player!" Charlie noticed the smile on her face and how her eyes lit up when she mentioned Harry's name, "It's good to see you smile Sis," he said, "I believe you are right about Harry and I hope we find something soon and get him home because that smile should always be on your face."

Ginny sighed, thinking of her husband could give her that smile but she was so worried about him, she absent mindedly fingered the stone around her neck again as the smile was replaced by those worry lines that Charlie was seeing more and more of. "Hermione's right though you know, you need to take care of yourself and that baby, Harry will not thank you if he comes home to an unhealthy wife and child, and we'd probably get the raw end of it as well!" She smiled again and they settled down into two comfortable chairs in front of the kitchen fire and spent the next hour or so sharing happy tales about Harry.

Charlie had not been around much since Harry had come into their lives, he was away in Romania working with dragons most of the time and before the war had only met Harry on a few very brief occasions. Everyone else in the family loved the dark haired boy married to his youngest sibling and it was easy to see why, he had precious few happy stories to share with his sister but enjoyed listening to her countless ones which momentarily put that light back in her eyes and the smile on her face. Ginny fell asleep at around ten o clock, being pregnant made her tire easily and she was constantly finding herself in bed much earlier than she had ever done before, Charlie covered her with a blanket and made himself a cup of tea, he was just about to sit back in the squashy armchair, which would have looked completely at home in Griffindor tower, when he heard a soft knock at the door. Dropping the tea on the table he hurried down the narrow passageway to the front door, he opened it to be greeted by the sight of no one but a soft rustling to his left and a brief draft told him that his brother and sister in law had just entered the building under cover of the invisibility cloak. Seconds later the two figures appeared in front of him as the silky material was cast aside and Ron made to stretch out his body which had obviously been in a stooped position for quite some time.

"Everything go alright?" Charlie asked and Hermione nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah," Ron answered at the same time, "But they had plenty of watch wizards on, took us an age to get through to the auror office, but getting into Harry's was easy, they hadn't changed any of the passwords! Plus Hermione was right the place was still full of all the files, including this one," he pulled a tatty looking brown folder out of his own cloak and waved it in front of his older sibling, "It's quite-"

"Illuminating," Hermione interjected, "Where's Gin?"

"Sleeping in the armchair by the fire, maybe this should wait until morning, she really should rest."

"That sound like a good idea, there's nothing we can do with this information tonight and plus we could do with some sleep, Ron and I will stay in a spare room and we'll look through all this tomorrow."

Hermione disappeared with the folder up the stairs to find a room to sleep in and Ron followed her up still stretching out his aching muscles, Charlie returned to the kitchen where he picked up the sleeping girl laid by the fire and took her to her own bed before retiring to his own room and thanking his lucky stars that his sister had friends like Hermione and a brother like Ron who would do anything for her and their other best friend.


	10. Chapter 10

**To my loyal readers and reviewers, chapter ten which will shed some (but not a lot!) light on what really happened to our hero! Who thinks I'll kill him off and who thinks he's out there somewhere, read on and find out! Oh and please review too!**

Chapter 10

Sunlight streaming through the wide bedroom window woke Ginny the next morning, she stretched and placed a hand lovingly on her stomach, she wasn't far enough gone to be showing just yet but she was still excited by the prospect of having her and Harry's child and woke each morning reminding herself that it was actually going to happen. Checking the stone around her neck was her next job in the morning routine she had taken on since the arrival of the Ministry's official letter, it was still shining brightly and Ginny was once again convinced that her husband was still alive.

She dressed quickly as she remembered what Ron and Hermione had been doing the previous evening and realised that she must have fallen asleep down stairs by the fire, she didn't even know if they had returned safely from the Ministry never mind if the mission had been fruitful providing them with an ounce of useful information. Descending the stairs gracefully she reached the kitchen and heard the sound of two voices discussing something in hushed whispers, on entering the room she found Hermione and Charlie sitting at the table each nursing a cup of coffee, obviously prepared by Kreacher who was now running around the kitchen making breakfast for the two guests.

"How did it go?" Ginny asked as she entered the room. Her friend looked up at the young witch and smiled, "Very well, come and sit down." She gestured to an empty seat at the table and as soon as she sat down Kreacher began to busy himself bringing her usual breakfast items and insisting that she eat them for the baby.

"It took us a while to get into the office," Hermione said as Ginny focused her attention on the other girl, "There were loads of watch wizards on duty, I didn't realise they had so many now, but everytime we saw one we had wait until they had gone past before we could continue. With so many of them around we thought it best to use the stairs rather than alerting them to the noise of the elevators moving down to the auror office. The watch wizard outside Harry's department was seated at the reception desk and we couldn't open the door without catching his attention, we had to wait until he did his round which took an hour, he obviously doesn't like to get off his bottom and patrol!

"So after an hour of sitting outside in the hallway we finally managed to get into the offices and over to Harry's, you were right about the password, they hadn't changed it so getting into his room was easy! Once inside we could see immediately why they wouldn't let you in yesterday, loads of case files were still laying all over the place, on his desk, hanging out of the filing cabinets even on the windowsill we searched through them all, they all seemed to be of various people who we assume were members of this group Harry was sent to infiltrate, anyway we sorted through them and eventually we found this one, it was marked extremely confidential and had a magical charm placed on it to make sure no one could pick it up and read it, but it wasn't that difficult to get past. The folder was at the bottom of a pile which had _to destroy_ written on them. It's a complete file on what they were doing out there, it also has case closed stamped across it."

Hermione opened the folder and began to splay out the numerous documents contained inside it, "We had to wait for ages in Harry's office for the watch wizard to go on another round before we could leave so we had a look through the folder, it's very illuminating." There were pictures of evil looking witches and wizards, some of them similar to the pictures taken at Azkaban, others official looking photos of very smart but still nasty looking people. There was a list of names which matched up to some of the pictures and at the bottom of the pile were five pieces of parchment two showed men that Ginny had met briefly with Harry, they were of Croft and Abery and were obviously faked wanted parchments created to support their stories. Two others showed men she had never heard of before, Ginny presumed they were the Romanian aurors involved in the mission and the fifth showed a menacing looking blonde glaring at the camera with hateful eyes from beneath a fierce looking scar, the name Dudley Dursley was splashed across the picture in bold, capital letters along with the words _WANTED FOR TORTURING BY WAY OF THE CRUCIATUS CURSE_. Ginny shuddered, this was obviously the cover story and identity that had been created for Harry and even though she knew it was untrue she still did not like the idea that he had had to talk, probably fondly, of committing such a terrible crime.

"Morning," said a sleepy voice behind them all and they turned to see Ron standing in his pyjamas with a bad case of bed head and a sleepy expression on his face, they chuckled at him before returning to the parchments that Hermione was still showing them. Ron approached the table and peered over Ginny's shoulder, "Didn't quite get to the end of these last night before, hey," he paused and put his finger on the parchment of Dudley Dursley, "Isn't that Harry's cousin?" Hermione pulled the parchment closer and inspected it carefully, "Of course, I didn't make the connection when I first saw it, Dursley, I'd forgotten that was their name. Yes it is him, well a slightly trimmer looking Dudley but I suppose Harry didn't want to carry all that weight around with him!"

"Wonder why he chose him?" Ron asked as he sat down and allowed Kreacher to bring him a cup of coffee and some toast, "Hermione, can we get a house elf?" She glared at him indignantly and he cowered, "Yeah, okay sorry, it's just Kreacher's brilliant!" he finished but let the matter drop, as head of SPEW Ron knew that Hermione would never have a house elf of her own.

"This document here," Hermione continued as she lifted up a piece of parchment and placed it on the table between Charlie and Ginny, "It says that Abery is still missing and lists the names of the four identified bodies including Harry's even though they have not been able to prove it," sure enough the four photographs were again displayed with killed in action splayed across them all, though Harry's bore the words missing presumed dead. "But look here at the bottom," she pointed with her finger to a couple of sentences along the bottom of the page which read, _Simon Abery missing in action, no investigation to be launched into finding him he is presumed dead, although no evidence in terms of a body had been found all other members of the team were killed by the Romanian group and it is assumed that Abery was taken by the dark wizards and killed too. The case for the discovery of Simon Abery is closed and will not be re opened._

"But what if he's still out there somewhere?" Ginny asked, "How can they abandon him like that?"

"That's what I thought, it seems like they wanted the case over and closed quickly like they were trying to hide something so I kept reading and found this." She withdrew another piece of parchment, this one was smaller and neither Ginny nor Charlie had noticed it when Hermione had begun leafing through them, it showed a different picture of one of the aurors whom Ginny had met previously at the Ministry, it was a picture of Walter Croft.

"He was on the mission too wasn't he?" Ginny asked, "It says on this one that one of the bodies was his?" she indicated back at the parchment they had just looked over.

"That's what they told us but look at this," she pointed to two words written at the bottom of the page again in small writing these two read _double agent._ Ginny gasped and Hermione nodded her head, "I think the Ministry or at least the auror office were trying to hide the fact that a double agent managed to infiltrate our auror office, he must have been passing information to the enemy which is probably why they were caught out before the demonstration. They won't want to find Abery in case he lets slip that they made a mistake, all aurors must undergo rigorous legillimens testing and interrogations before they can join the team and somehow Croft must have slipped through the net, they won't be proud of this fact and you can bet the Minister doesn't now about it either. Unfortunately they will most likely be hoping that Harry was the fourth body found in the burned building and that Abery was taken by the dark wizards and killed and then all of their loose ends are covered, but look at this too," at this point Hermione began to leaf through the pile of pictures of various mean looking wizards.

She stopped on a picture of a burly looking man, "And look at this again," she indicated the parchment of Dudley Dursley again and the three siblings compared the pictures. "They have a similar stature don't they? The body they found could easily have been one of the dark wizards caught up in the fracas themselves, what if it was this man? Or indeed any of these thicker set men?" she leafed frantically through a few more pictures, "Plus I am sure, even with a new experimental branch of magic, that if a person died they would automatically revert to their natural form, it has to be one of the basic laws of transfiguration magic. Ginny I believed you before but now I am even more certain that Harry is alive somewhere."

"What about Abery?"

"Abery too, I mean why would they take one auror and leave the rest tied up in the shack to die in the fire? They would surely have left them all there, they don't usually show mercy do they? I mean what would be the point of taking him anyway to kill him somewhere else? They knew the Ministries were on to them why would they need an auror in tow? I think Drindle is just hoping that Abery doesn't turn up, either that or they are going to do something about it themselves."

"So what's the next plan?" Ron asked as they turned to look at each other.

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The man groaned and reached up to rub the pain in his head, he was laying on a comfortable bed and was wrapped in a warm blanket, he felt drowsy and as though he had been sleeping for a long time, a sharp stab in his left leg told him that he was injured, but he had no idea what had happened to him or where he was, in fact he had no idea who he was either. "Dudley?" said a soft female voice from somewhere in the room, a second later the long dark hair of a pale young woman fell over him, she wasn't pretty but had a strangely attractive quality about her. The clothes she wore hung limply on her body evidently they were many sizes too big for her. "Don't go trying to move, you hurt your leg pretty badly, I've healed it but I'm not sure it will ever recover properly, you broke the knee backwards somehow."

"Who are you?" the man croaked, his voice was hoarse and his throat was dry.

"I'm Annala, I found you and brought you here."

"Where is here?"

"A shack in the mountains, after the demonstration and the fires and murders, everyone ran but I saw you by the side of a burned out shack and I brought you back here when everyone had gone. You would have bled to death if I hadn't."

The man looked gratefully at the woman who had begun to mop his brow with a warm cloth, it felt comforting to be touched, "Did you call me Dudley?" the man asked her.

"Yes, that is the name on your papers from your robes, that is your name isn't it?"

"I-" he paused, "I don't think I know," it seemed familiar but he couldn't think whether or not it was his own name.

"You're English aren't you?" the young woman asked.

"Am I?"

"You sound English, are you alright?"

"I don't know, I can't remember…anything," he answered as panic began to fill his brain.

"I think you took a hit to the head, there were traces of magic around it when I brought you back," he reached up again to where his head was aching and rubbed it gently. "Yeah it feels like it," he replied.

"Things will start to come back to you when you've been awake for a while you've been out for the count for over two weeks." The man turned to look at her with a look of complete shock on his face.

"So you…you've taken care of me for that long?"

"Well I couldn't leave you laying there to die could I?" The man looked down on his body at this point and noticed that he was a large, burly man, he felt uncomfortable in his skin somehow as if it didn't really belong to him, but he supposed that was just because he was feeling confused about who he was.

"How did you get me back here?" he asked looking from his large frame to her small one, "I mean, I'm not a small man!" he joked.

"I flew you with my wand, you…you do know you're a wizard right?"

"What? Oh yes, yes I know that," a strange fuzzy image came into his mind of an extremely large man saying that to him in a dark shack, but the moment the image had entered his head it seemed to disappear again. "Yes I'm a wizard, there's my wand right?" he asked pointing at the holly stick on a small wooden table by the bedside. The young woman passed it to him, it felt a little strange in his hand, like it wasn't connected to him the way a wand should be, but he waved it saying softly, "Lumos," it was the only suitable spell he could think of and the tip of the wand immediately began to glow bright green, "Nox," he whispered extinguishing the light.

"Why didn't you take me to a hospital?" he croaked.

"Not safe out there yet, and besides I was a healer, I know what I'm doing." She smiled confidently at him and he relaxed a little. "So you don't know why you were here in Romania then?" The man tried his best to come up with a reason but he could remember nothing about his own life, where he lived, how old he was, if he had a family, nothing.

"I don't know, I…I just can't think at all," he looked helplessly at Annala. "Has no one tried to look for me?" he asked hopefully but she shook her head gently, "No, sorry." The man laid back down on the bed as the young woman left the room, she returned with a piece of parchment which she handed to the man. He looked down at the paper to see a picture of himself with details of his name, date of birth and nationality, but nothing else. He felt as if he was looking at a piece of information about someone else, someone that he definitely knew but he wasn't sure that it was him, however the picture was definitely the image of the face and body he was wearing so he assumed it must be him, after all if he had been through some kind of transfiguration, it would have worn off by now if he had been unconscious for over two weeks.

He relaxed on the bed and accepted a small sandwich brought to him by Annala, he continued to search his brain but still came up with nothing, he felt tired and eventually succumbed to more sleep hoping that he would remember more when he woke up again. He dreamt of fighting dragons and flying on broomsticks, speaking in whispered hisses and a flying motorbike, flying black creatures taking all the happiness out of him and a flash of green light following strangled female screams.

He awoke the next morning feeling tired out and was covered in sweat, Annala was sat by his bedside with a tray of porridge and a cup of water. "You were dreaming last night weren't you?" she asked him softly, "You were tossing and turning all night, I tried to wake you but you wouldn't open your eyes, you eventually tired yourself out around dawn this morning."

"I was dreaming about allsorts, I think I'm a parselmouth and I remember hearing screams, female screams followed by a flash of green light."

"See your memory is in there," she reached up to touch his head, it felt comforting having someone touch him but it also felt wrong, like she was the wrong person to be doing it to him, "It'll come out eventually, you just need to give it time, anyway you can't get far with that knee yet so you can wait it out here for now, let it all come back piece by piece." Dudley pulled himself up in bed so he could eat the meal she had brought him, he wolfed it down realising that he had a large appetite and was keen to fulfil it, he mused that building up his strength would help him to begin strengthening his knee and building up his life, wherever that was.

Later that day he tried to get out of the bed but his knee would not hold him up, the moment he tried to put any weight on it, it buckled and he fell back onto the bed. "I told you that you wouldn't be able to do that yet," Annala said as she entered the bedroom with a small lunch for him, "Your knee won't be strong enough for a few weeks, you need to let it heal." Dudley laid back down frustrated with himself, he felt that he was an active man even though his body seemed to say otherwise and he was longing to get up and move about but the pain in his knee told him he would have to be more patient. He turned to look at Annala who was leaving the room, "Yesterday you said you'd found me after a demonstration and something about burning and murders, what happened?"

She crossed back across the room and surprised Dudley by sitting next to him on the bed, a little too close for his liking, but he wanted to know what had happened so he let it slide. "It was late at night," she began, "I woke up to the sound of screams and shouts from outside my home, I jumped out of bed and ran to the window where I could see most of the town ablaze with fire, people were running between the houses desperately trying to put out the flames and save each other. I ran outside to see if I could help too and I was relieved that I had as my house went up in flames a moment later, walking down the middle of the street dressed in dark red robes and wearing hooded masks were a group of wizards, they were torturing a small party of people over their heads I think they were muggles, they were using the…the cruciatus curse.

"Laughing and enjoying the sounds of the screaming coming from above them they weaved a procession through the village occasionally throwing a flaming curse at the houses as they passed." Dudley looked horror struck at the thought but suddenly had another flash in his own head, an image of tents on fire and a family being tortured above a group of masked and hooded figures, then a flash of bushy hair screaming something, but he couldn't make out the actual word coming from her mouth. What was that image? Where had he been when it had happened? It felt like a long time ago, could it have been the same image that Annala was talking about or was it really an image from the past? And who was the girl with the bushy hair calling out to him?

"I hid, because I was scared," she continued interrupting his thoughts which ended immediately. "I couldn't do anything else to help there was too much going on and I didn't know which way to turn I wanted to run but where could I go? I have no family to turn to, I was all alone and scared. I waited for a while until the procession had passed out of the village, people were still running around trying to save their homes and screaming as they found loved ones dead on the streets and inside houses, I decided to come up here but at the end of the village I found a small shack, it had been completely torched but as I passed by I noticed your foot sticking out from behind a shed nearby, something drew me to take a look and I saw you slumped against the shed, your knee twisted at a funny angle. And the rest…well I already told you last night, I brought you here and I've been looking after you ever since."

"You haven't been back to the village at all?"

"No," she replied shaking her head, "There was nothing for me to go back to, so I stayed here to care for you. I don't think it's safe out there yet, this place is hidden away but I have still seen a few fires over the nights we have been here." She looked sheepishly at the door as she said it but leaned slightly into him at the same time as if trying to find protection in him. Dudley edged away from her, something about her nearness was telling him that it was wrong, but he couldn't really put his finger on it and he didn't want to offend the young girl who had cared for him. "You should get more rest," she said jumping off the bed and heading for the door, "You didn't rest well last night and the more you do then hopefully more of your memory will return."

She closed the door softly behind her as Dudley went back to searching through the few images he had just experienced trying to piece them together, but nothing made any sense to him and he eventually gave up allowing sleep to consume him once more. The next time he woke up it was dark and Annala was standing over him, he felt a little uncomfortable by her presence and assumed it was that which had woken him, "Drink this," she said to him offering him a purple potion in a tall, clear glass, "It will help to mend your leg," he looked at the glass in her hand, he had absolutely no idea about potions and healing and decided that he should take it, she had taken good care of him so far and he had no reason to doubt her advice.

The liquid burned as he swallowed it and it made him feel woosy almost immediately, he looked helplessly at Annala who smiled and said, "Don't worry, it's supposed to feel like that, but it's good for your joints and will help you have a more restful night's sleep, Goodnight…"

He was out for the count before she reached the door and finished her sentence so he didn't hear her mutter under her breath, "…Harry."

**Dum, dum, dum!! Who is she and what is she doing with our Harry? Please review and let me know what you think of her!!!!**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"Where's Gin?" Ron asked sullenly as he passed Charlie in the narrow entrance hall at Grimmauld Place.

"Upstairs in the sitting room napping, why?" the elder Weasley replied closing the door behind his younger brother.

"It's out," he answered holding out the copy of The Daily Prophet which was clutched in his hand.

"Well we knew they couldn't keep it under wraps forever, I mean there are the other families too and people are going to want to know where Harry is sooner or later aren't they? Was it Skeeter?"

"Would she let anyone else report on Harry?" he retorted, "I mean there's probably no one else in this whole world who can twist absolutely anything about Harry. She'd probably kill to make sure that she got the story. Just read it." Charlie took the newspaper with him back to the kitchen and Ron followed him, sitting down on two chairs at the old wooden table they waited while Kreacher ran around getting them cups of tea and a packet of biscuits to share. Charlie began to read as soon as he had his cup of tea, the headline across the top of the front page read, _THE END OF AN 'ERO?_ An old picture of Harry from a long ago story accompanied the piece, Charlie continued to read.

_Well readers, I, Rita Skeeter, official reporter on any news concerning Harry James Potter, am afraid that I have some extremely sad news to share with you all today. It is my unfortunate duty to inform you all that it has been confirmed by the Ministry of Magic that the boy who lived and survived the most evil wizard ever known on more than one occasion has met an untimely and brutal deathwhile on a secret mission for the Ministry. The boy we all thought infallible, though many of us did believe that he was living on borrowed time really, has indeed finally been beaten in the line of duty, and protecting another country not our own readers, it seems saving the British wizarding world was not enough for our young hero, he needed to abandon his post with us in order to help out elsewhere! His desertion of the British public has led to his unfortunate death, though many may think he deserved it as he had abandoned us for them. _

_The official word is that he is missing - presumed dead, but this reporter has been privy to classified information and has discovered that a body has been found which the Ministry believe is that of our hero. The legendary murderer of he-who-will-still-not-be-named was working on a highly dangerous mission with foreign aurors in Romania, he along with some of his team were caught up in some kind of demonstration which led to them being burned alive in a fire, what a tragic way to end a life. Four bodies in total were discovered including Potter, his team mate Walter Croft and two Romanian aurors who they were working with. _

_So it is with a sad heart that today I have to pass on this terrible news, such a young hero should surely have lived a longer life than this, especially given that he only recently married the young Genvira Wessley, though of course most of us are all still trying to work out how she managed to bag him, (love potion if you ask me) I mean one minute the wedding is off and the next there he is walking down the aisle and they are all happily ever after, perhaps the potion wore off and he decided to take on the dangerous mission to get away, well if that is the truth then he certainly found a way to get away from her permanently! _

_At this time we have been unable to contact the widow Mrs Potter but we all would like to take this opportunity to offer our deepest condolences to the young witch. So for the last time as official reporter for Harry James Potter this is Rita Skeeter saying goodnight to our hero, it really is the end of an era for both of us. Rest in Peace Harry from the Daily Prophet._

_(For official obituary turn to page 7, for rerun article on Harry's defeat of He-who-must-still-not-be-named see page 12, for rerun of his wedding see page 14, for re-runs of earlier articles see page 37)_

"She can turn anything into a piece of rubbish that woman, I suppose she'll be coming out with Harry's life story next like she did when Dumbledore died!"

"If she does that she might find Hermione hunting her down and killing her, you should have seen her this morning when she got the paper, she nearly blew the roof off just making a cup of coffee! How can she go from one emotion to another? Saying she's sorry to share the news but that he actually deserved it, and that crap about Ginny and a love potion, just because she's never known true love and then to offer her condolences! Honestly!"

"What's going on?" asked a sleepy voice entering the kitchen, Charlie turned the paper over but Ginny caught sight of it, "Is it out?" she indicated the paper and the two Weasley's looked down at it, "It's alright, I knew they wouldn't keep it hidden forever, I suppose she's made it sound worse than it is somehow." Ron nodded at her and she sighed, "Let's see then," she took the paper off the table and collapsed in a chair by the fireplace to read it, Ron and Charlie watched her face as she read waiting for her to react but she didn't flinch once. When she had finished reading she folded the paper and placed it on the chair arm, glancing up at the worried looks on the faces of her two brothers she said, "Well that's about what I expected from her, I'm just going to make sure that when he returns Luna's father gets the first official interview about where he has been, and also the one to out the Ministry's cover up!"

"Nice going Sis," Ron chuckled, proud of his feisty little sister and her determination. Harry had been missing for just short of a month now and the worry was starting to show on her. She had decided to leave work when Harry had disappeared, he had a vast amount of gold in his vault along with a substantial amount left to him by Sirius and as the house had come from Sirius too they didn't really have any major outgoings to worry about. Ginny had refused to be a stay at home wife and Harry had known that neither of them would be able to live without a career of some kind, but when she had discovered that he was missing and she was pregnant Ginny had decided to put all her efforts into finding her husband and ensuring the good health of their unborn child. So she had handed her notice in at the hospital and been staying at home every day for the last three weeks helping Hermione and Ron to investigate the missing Abery, in the hopes of finding out something about Harry's disappearance. So far their efforts had been in vain, it was difficult to locate a missing person in another country when you had no idea how to, or where to start looking.

Hermione had taken some time out from SPEW leaving her deputy in charge so she could channel all her efforts into finding her best friend, George had also told Ron to take as much time as he needed to find their sister's husband, that was more important than the shop which would be there for him when Harry was found. After eating a breakfast which was foisted upon her by the caring house elf, something he did to Ginny every morning, she rose from the armchair in the kitchen and headed up to the Black library where Hermione had already closeted herself for the day. They were joined moments later by the Weasley boys and they sat down to try and come up with a plan for the next stage of their investigation.

"I was thinking last night," Charlie began as he took a seat next to Hermione at the desk, she was leafing through the papers from Harry's office again but finding nothing new, "What if we use Harry's cloak and start hanging around his office, I mean someone is bound to let something slip at sometime."

"Charlie that's a great idea!" Hermione exclaimed, "We can do shifts or something and tail the aurors, you're right someone's got to let some snippet out eventually if we listen carefully enough!"

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Two months later they were sat around in the library of Grimmauld Place again studying all the information they had to go on, Hermione had combed the parchments from Harry's office over and over trying to discover any tiny, seemingly insignificant detail which might help them to locate either Abery or Harry. After their first few visits to the auror office under the invisibility cloak had brought them nothing new Ron had wanted to hot foot it to Romania as soon as possible but Hermione with her realistic sense had pointed out the fact that Romania was a very large place and they had absolutely no idea where Harry and his team had even been based, "What are we going to do knock on every door in the whole country until we find one of them?" she had asked with her hands on her hips and a pout on her face.

"Oh, yes well…You're the one who organises things aren't you? I'm just the blundering idiot who cocks it all up!" she had smiled at her husband then and said softly, "No you don't, and it wasn't that stupid an idea, it just needs organisation." So for the last few weeks that is exactly what Hermione had been trying to do, organise a location to start from in Romania. She and Ron had moved into Grimmauld Place for the time being, they were working from Harry and Ginny's home so they could use Ginny's brain as well and realised it made more sense for them to stay there for a while. They had all flatly refused to allow Ginny to accompany them while pregnant and she had had to relent and say she would stay at home even though it was driving her crazy not being able to do something more constructive in the search for her lover.

Ron, Hermione and Charlie were visiting the Ministry on a daily basis under Harry's invisibility cloak to try and gather more information, by listening to conversations and wading through the immense filing systems located in the auror office, unfortunately it seemed that all paperwork relating to the case had been destroyed by the office in their attempt to cover up the double agent, Croft. Their attempts at finding a snippet of information seemed fruitless and all four of them were beginning to feel the pressure. Suddenly Hermione threw the papers, which she had been scanning for what felt like the millionth time, into the air making Ginny jump, "I'm so sick of this, there has got to be a piece of information somewhere that will tell us where to start looking and if we don't find it soon I'm going with Ron's plan and knocking on every door in Romania," she shrieked as she dropped down on a chair by the window. Hermione then looked helplessly at Ginny, "I'm so sorry Ginny, this must be even worse for you than it is for us."

"Don't worry about me Hermione, just worry about finding something and I'll do my best to help you, I just wish there was some way we could get it out of Drindle, I'm even considering using some veritaserum on him and getting the truth out once and for all!"

"Now there's a plan!" Hermione giggled and felt some relief at breaking the tension with a little laughter, the girls smiled at each other as Ron came round to give his wife a hug, he could see the strain this was placing on her, and his sister too and he was all about giving the affection to them both at the moment, he'd never been brilliant at the planning and researching stages of anything they did, but he could support and that's what he was doing.

They were disturbed by the alarms in the hallway which signalled the arrival of someone they knew, as Charlie was the only other person able to get into the house without being asked, they knew he had returned from his stint at the Ministry and waited eagerly in the library as they always did at this time of day hoping that he had some news. The smile on his face as he came in lifted their spirits enormously and they were not disappointed by his news either, "Linden, that's where they were, a small village in the mountains, muggle and wizard place. I heard Drindle himself talking to another auror in Harry's old office, they were getting it ready for someone else to move in and started talking about Rita's latest article on Harry. Drindle was asking if all the paperwork had been destroyed properly, he said that they didn't need the truth about Croft coming out, especially to the Daily Prophet or the Minister, the other one thought it was a shame that they had lost Harry in the process and Drindle agreed that they had lost their best auror, but they said it was a small price to pay for being able to cover up their blunder! If I hadn't been undercover I would have smacked him one right there and then, I mean how much has Harry done for us and they talk about him like that?"

Three disgusted faces told the older wizard that his siblings and sister in law agreed with him wholeheartedly. "Anyway they did go on to say that they hoped the fourth body was that of Harry's as they still hadn't discovered whether or not the body would revert to its original form on death and secretly prayed that he was not still walking around the mountains in Linden, although they did also say that he would probably have appeared by now if it was the case. They began to discuss Abery but they left the office and closed the door trapping me inside, I had to wait until the cleaner came in and left the door open a couple of hours later so I didn't hear what they actually said about him but I did here the other one saying he had been sorted, that's when the door closed."

"Charlie mate, that's amazing! So how do we find out where this place is? I was never any good at geography!" Ron snorted turning back to his all knowledgeable wife hoping she would point them in the right direction.

"Well my man," Charlie's voice continued and Ron's head swung back around in his direction "That's where I come in handy again isn't it? I just happen to know where Linden is, went out to contain a few wayward dragons up in the mountains by Linden, strange place really, well quiet. I spent about a week up there in total taming the dragons a bit so they would stop attacking the village, I remember we had to do a few memory modifications on the muggles too! But it's really out of the way and not easy to get to with muggle transportation, even though there are muggles who live there, that's probably why this dark group decided to hang out there and cause a disturbance, less chance of being seen until they could recruit enough members!"

"So the plan is to go there right? Start looking for clues?" Ron asked the room looking at his wife imploringly now that his original idea could be followed.

"Yes, Ronald we do and as soon as possible, any ideas when Charlie, and will you be able to tell us how to get there? I suppose we can apparate there can't we?"

"Yes, but I'll come with you, we can side-along apparate to the village whenever we want to, but I think we should go to the spot where the dragons were so as not to be seen, if Harry or Abery have been captured by these wizards then we need to be careful, three British wizards turning up in the village might cause some suspicions and we need to be as discrete as possible."

"Take the cloak with you," Ginny chimed in desperate to be of some help in the mission to find her husband.

"Good thinking Gin," Charlie smiled at her, "We'll go tonight to the mountains, can we take the tent you lot used on your hunt for the horcruxes?" he asked turning to Hermione who nodded in response. "Great, I think if we stay there for a bit and use the cloak to go into the village and see what's going on, if there has been some kind of demonstration up there we'll need to scout around and see if the village is still there or not. Ginny we'll stay in touch, one of us can apparate back every night and give you an update if you like, will you be alright here by yourself?"  
"Yes, Charlie, I can take care of myself and anyway Kreacher will still be here. Plus I don't want to leave the house for long in case," she looked at the floor, "In case he comes home." Ron moved over to give his sister some of his affectionate support, placing his arms around her shoulders he pulled her to him and she sobbed into his chest a little, she was emotional these days with the pregnancy hormones but worrying about her husband and hoping he would return soon only added to her feelings.

"So that settles it then, we leave tonight and we tell no one, agreed?" Hermione said forcefully.

"Agreed," they replied in unison.

"I'll get the tent from home and a few other things we might need, should we take these documents do you think? We have pictures of all the dark wizards if we do so we can identify if any are still hanging around."

"Good thinking Hermione," Charlie said causing her to blush at the complement as she rose from the library desk and made her way to the doorway. "We'll be back here at ten tonight, does that sound alright?" she asked Charlie from the open doorway and he nodded in response. Ron and Hermione left to get themselves organised while Charlie took a seat by his sister, "We'll find him Ginny, I promise, even if he…" he coughed uncomfortably unsure of how to say what he wanted, "We'll find him," he settled on and placed a comforting hand on hers, she smiled with teary eyes at him and he moved over to pull her into a hug. "I'm an emotional wreck with this baby," she joked trying to laugh through her sobs, "I just want to share this with him you know?"

"Of course you do, and you will I'm sure of it. With Hermione on the case there won't be any rest until he's back in this house, you've both got a good friend in her you know, she loves you both so much. And Ron! Never thought our little Ron would turn out like he has, the day he met Harry on that train was a good day for the Weasleys, weedy little Ron who couldn't even master a simple spell, off fighting evil wizards and standing by his best mate through everything, he won't rest either until we find him!" They sat in a comforting hug for a while longer before Ginny fell asleep Charlie left her to rest while he prepared himself for a trip to Romania.

**If you enjoyed please review!!!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Thanks as usual reviewers!**

**Maybe this chapter will shed a bit more light on Dudley/Harry and his situation!**

Chapter 12

Annala was there again when he woke up leaning over him in the bed and checking his temperature she was beginning to make him feel a little uncomfortable as she was always there and he wasn't sure when, if ever, she left his side. He was starting to lose track of what day it was after spending so long in the bed and his sleep pattern was all over the place because he was so drowsy from the potion she kept making him drink. The young woman kept insisting that it would heal his knee and he had to admit that he wasn't feeling the slightest bit of pain in it but he had not had another conversation with the pale young girl since she had told him of the night she had found him. He wasn't sure how long ago that conversation had been and had only a collection of brief images of her bringing him food and glasses of the purple potion, insisting that he keep drinking it.

He had woken during the night a couple of times and found her sleeping in a chair by his bedside he had tried to piece together some kind of memory about himself, but his attempts had been fruitless and eventually sleep had taken over him again. He had also tried once more to get out of the bed but his knee would still not hold him and Annala had found him on the floor where he had landed only seconds before she had entered the room, she had once more been adamant that he must stay in bed for a while longer and continue to take the burning liquid which she brought him each night. This time she was standing with the potion again which he was sure he had only just taken before the sleep he had just been roused from, "I think I'd like to try going without it for a while," he said softly, "I feel like I've been out of it for a long time, how long is it since I woke up for the first time?"

"About a week," she replied with a shifty look in her eye, but Dudley didn't notice this, "It feels longer," he said rubbing his head a little, "I'd like to get out of this bed too, is there any chance you could help me to move about a bit? Just an hour in another room would do, for a change?" She looked a little angry at his request but the look left her eyes almost immediately as she said, "I've checked your knee today and it's looking pretty good, perhaps you'd like to spend a few more days in bed and then we'll see about getting you into the front room. I thought I might go to the Ministry when you're better, see if we can get someone from the British division to come out and see you," she looked at him brightly but with a nervous apprehension as if she was reluctant to have anyone find him there.

"Take tonight's potion so you sleep well and then tomorrow we'll see how much better your knee is, it really has improved in just a week since I've been able to get you to drink that," she indicated the glass she had put down next to him. "It's improved almost three times as much as it did when you were unconscious just by drinking it, one or two days and you'll probably be able to get up on it, does it feel better to you?" He wasn't really sure as he hadn't been able to feel any pain from it at all but when he looked at the mound he had to admit that it did look much less swollen than it had when he had first woken up. "I suppose," he answered grudgingly.

"So one more dose then?" she asked hopefully handing him the potion once more, Dudley couldn't really see any way of getting out of drinking it with her there watching him she seemed so insistent and he was totally reliant on her at the moment, so he drained the glass slowly and began to feel the usual woosy feeling that he associated with the drink, he was asleep again before Annala had even left the room and didn't hear any of the hushed conversation going on in the other one later that night, an argument which became quite heated after a while, so much so that Annala checked on Dudley to make sure he had not been disturbed. A lanky, greasy haired man joined her in the doorway and peeked into the room where the thick set, blonde man was sleeping fitfully, tossing and turning in another dream, "So he has no idea that he's been out of it for four months?"

"Managed to convince him it's only been another week since he first woke up, but he's starting to get a little suspicious, especially as his knee's almost healed physically, he tried to get up the other day but it buckled because he hasn't used it in so long, there's nothing physically wrong with him now and it's only the potion which is keeping him drowsy, though I suppose I could try a different potion which will keep it weak for a while. He's trying to get me to stop giving the current one to him though, feels like he's ready to try being more awake, I don't know how much longer I can keep it up."

"Well try for as long as you can, how's his memory?"

"He got a few flashes when he first woke up but nothing he could piece together, I don't think there's been anything since he's been on the potion."

"Good," the man replied, "Just make sure you keep it that way, nothing that could trigger it, what about his wand and that weird silver thing he had on him?"

"I put them in the cupboard in the kitchen, managed to conjure a similar one to his, same wood not that it makes any difference, he's only used it once since he woke up, managed to light the tip of it but he's been out of it so long I think he's forgotten that he can use one. He seems more concerned about his memory than his magic."

"Hmm," the man said nodding his head at her and turning to leave the doorway. Annala followed him and closed the door gently so as not to disturb the restless sleeper in the bed. The lanky man pulled on a heavy cloak and headed for the front door, "I'll be back when I can, just remember to try and keep him inside." Annala looked at the man and sneered at him, "I will."

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A month of walking around the partially destroyed village of Linden had given the three friends little more to go on, they had scouted round the village under the invisibility cloak everyday searching for more clues, so far they had not come across any of the wizards from the folder and all they had observed were wizards and muggles trying to put their homes and lives back together. The village had suffered many losses and as it was true that muggle transportation struggled to get through to the village up the high and winding mountain path so the wizard houses were being reconstructed at a much better rate than the muggle ones. They had moved the tent around the mountains every so often to make sure that nobody spotted them and each evening one of them would apparate back to Ginny in Grimmauld Place to tell her that they had no news.

Their hope was draining but each visit to Ginny spurred them on to keep looking, eventually Hermione had discovered a burnt out shack to the north of the village with a shed outside, it was partially concealed by a small group of trees and they had not noticed it before as it did not appear to be under reconstruction, they investigated the building but again found nothing, they were about to give up when Ron suggested they search the shed outside. In a corner of it Charlie noticed a small stick poking out of an upturned, broken pot upon closer inspection they discovered that it was a wand. They took it back to the tent where Hermione performed prior incantatum on it and saw the ghost of it's last spell, it was a spell she had only seen performed by one other person, Harry, it was used by aurors to attack an enemy and bind them.

It was a non verbal spell so she did not know the name of it, but she had once seen Harry use it in a training session he had been giving to new aurors, the poor student he had chosen to perform the spell on had had his wand ripped from his arm and his body bound together, knees bent up against his chest and arms wrapped around his knees with the hands locked together, essentially binding himself with his own limbs. The class had been in awe and were eager to learn how to do it but Hermione had had to leave the room before he could explain it. "That's an auror spell," she told them, "I've seen Harry do it in a training session, it binds and disarms them non-verbally, I bet that shack was where they were all staying but why would the wand be hidden away? It's not Harry's and surely the other aurors would have had theirs with them when they were fighting, unless…" she paused looking at nothing in particular as the two men shared a look which said, what? "What if it's Abery's wand?" she concluded and the two Weasley men turned their heads from one another to look at her, "Where does she come up with this stuff?" Charlie asked.

"She's always doing it it's just the way her mind works!" Ron chuckled back at his brother, "So what do we do now? We still haven't found anything useful really, I mean I hope you're right Hermione and it is his, but we still need to work out what to do next. Is there a way to find the owner by using the wand? Is there a tracker spell or something? I mean we know wands are supposed to be tied so intrinsically to their owners that well, couldn't there be a way the wand can find the wizard, like it chooses them?"

"I don't know, I mean I could try and find out," she stopped to think, "I've still got all those books we took with us when we went for the horcruxes, there was some stuff on wandlore that I trawled through when we were looking for information about the Elder wand," she paused again, "But there wasn't much really, and I don't remember reading anything about the wand being able to find the wizard. Mind you there could be something in the Black's library, there are hundreds of books in there, some really old and dark ones too, there must be something in there about wands and wandlore. It's a good idea though Ron, I'd never have thought of it but if the wand does chose the wizard then there ought to be some way of using it to find them, well done!" She patted Ron on the back and he smiled proudly, he didn't come up with useful ideas that often he knew, his wife was the one who could think logically, he just went along with the plan and did his bit, but occasionally he would have some idea that if she could not use, she could at least build on. "Oh," Hermione exclaimed suddenly causing the two men to turn and look in her direction sharply, "We could ask Ollivander!"

"Great idea Hermione," Charlie said, "Let's go back to Grimmauld Place for a while, we're not going to get much more from searching the village, I think that shack had to be the last place, we've searched it all I'm sure. We can get Ginny involved again then I think she's starting to drain with having nothing to focus on, and like you said the library at their house has stacks and stacks we could look through, and I'm sure Ollivander would be pleased to offer you whatever help he can after you saved his life."

So it was settled they packed up the tent a little while later and Ron and Hermione decided to apparate home for a while and let Charlie give Ginny the news about the wand when he reached Grimmauld Place, they were in need of a little alone time after being holed up in a tent with Charlie for the last four weeks and Ron was eager to spend a night in his own bed instead of on a campbed. When Charlie entered the house he set off the usual signals and a few minutes later saw his now five month pregnant sister coming down the stairs, there was a definite bulge to her stomach now and she seemed to glow in that pregnant way.

He shared the news about the wand with her and the ideas they had come up with about using it as they sat drinking coffee at the kitchen table and went on to tell her about sleeping in the tent with the other two Weasley's, Charlie was also looking forward to spending a night in a proper bed, "And not to have Ron snoring next to me will be great as well," he told Ginny who chuckled at him, "I know the tent is magic and is larger inside than out, but it doesn't have walls any thicker then a muggle tent, you could hear every damn snore he made, I'm sure Hermione must wear some kind of ear plugs or else cast a good hearing charm on herself, if she did I'd like to know why she didn't tell me about it!" They sat for a while longer by the fire in the kitchen, Kreacher had been dismissed by Ginny almost as soon as Charlie had arrived, and the older Weasley told her silly tales about living with his youngest brother again, he marvelled once more at how good she looked when she smiled and it hardened his resolve to find Harry and make sure that the smile became more permanent.

Hermione and Ron arrived early the next morning, before Ginny rose, looking as refreshed as Charlie did after having spent the night in a real bed, they had not noticed it as much when they had been moving around in the tent with Harry years before but they were a bit older now and enjoyed their home comforts a bit more. Charlie let them in through the front door and Hermione made her way down the narrow corridor to the kitchen where Kreacher was busy preparing Ginny's breakfast, she sat at the kitchen table and summoned the folder of documents which they had taken out of Harry's office. She spread the contents out in front of her neatly and began combing through them again, sorting them into piles of some kind, Ginny entered the room moments later and hugged her friend and brother before sitting down to eat the breakfast brought to her immediately by Kreacher. "Mrs Potter must eat," he recited, "Mrs Potter needs strength for her baby," she looked down at the creature and thanked him before softly turning back to her best friend and two brothers, "So you think we should see Ollivander?"

"Definitely, but not today, I don't want to go to Diagon Alley the week before the new school term starts, firstly he'll be too busy to see us and secondly I don't want anyone to overhear us, the last thing we need is anyone from the Ministry finding out. I sent him an owl last night asking him if we could meet up, I said to choose a time when he was free but to make it as soon as possible, I'm sure he'll get back to us soon. Until then I was hoping you wouldn't mind me searching the library here again, it is extensive and we might just find something!"

"Knock yourself out, Hermione, in fact I'll join you, it will feel good to be doing something more constructive to help again, I've been going crazy sitting around here doing nothing!"

"Well I'll head up now and you can join me when you've finished your breakfast!"

"I'll be right behind you," she called as the older girl collected her papers back together and left the room.

"Well, that's you two sorted out, I think maybe I should go and check in with George at the shop, I mean you don't need me in the library just yet do you? Charlie could give you a hand if you need it, but I think four might be just too many for now." He looked awkwardly at his brother and sister, it was no secret that Ron was not a big fan of books, of course if it was important enough he would throw himself into a library with the rest of them and work all day, but if it wasn't necessary he would find a better use for his time. Ginny smiled at him, acutely aware of what thought was going through his head, "You go to the shop Ron, you've had enough time off for our cause to be allowed a little vacation time!" she smiled at him softly and the guilty look on his face cleared, "Charlie, you ought to go and see Mum too, she's driven me mad while you've been away, go and take her mind off me for a bit, you look thinner than when you went, let her fuss you for a bit!" The elder Weasley brother rolled his eyes and Ron laughed heartily at him.

"Don't laugh or I'll take you with me," he crowed back at him and Ron immediately stopped laughing and turned back to his sister.

"You're the best you know?" he said to her, "I'll be back this afternoon and I promise I'll start on the books then! Can you set me a floo appointment for four from the Leaky Cauldron, I'll go out the front door now, I can apparate away from the front step easily without being seen but I've never been brilliant at apparating onto it, Hermione usually side-alongs me when we come that way! I don't want to be spotted by Skeeter, I noticed this morning she was still out there, I suppose she's waiting for the elusive interview from the hero's widow. Can't wait to see her face when Harry's back!" Ginny nodded at his request for a floo appointment and smiled at his comment about the irritating reporter.

"See you this afternoon Ron, and say hi to George for me, tell him to owl me with Errol and I'll set him a floo appointment to visit me, I haven't seen him in ages.

"Will do," he called as he headed for the front door, the two remaining siblings heard the door close behind him and Charlie stood up to head into the fireplace. "I'll be back around four then too, give you two some peace and quiet to search those books!" Charlie was no bookworm either, though he wasn't quite as reluctant as the youngest Weasley boy, Ginny smiled at him and nodded as he disappeared in the usual green whirl and then sat down to finish her meal. She asked Kreacher to clean around the kitchen and to bring them a cup of tea to the library in a few hours, he bowed to his mistress as she left the room and went to join Hermione upstairs.

The two girls spent the day going through the Black's ancient book collection finding anything they could on wand magic, but it was an art that was passed down verbally through great wandmakers rather than something which was recorded in books. Wandlore was a delicate art and was studied for years by wandmakers who had to learn it and keep the knowledge for themselves only passing it on to future wandmakers when the time was right. By nightfall the girls were defeated, the source of all knowledge had let Hermione down again, there was nothing in the library at all about wandlore and the elder of the two women was beginning to feel frustrated. Ron and Charlie had joined them at four o clock and they had been able to get through the last section that the girls had not reached, unfortunately this was as empty as the sections they had searched. A soft tapping at the window distracted them all and Ginny opened it to allow the tiny owl on the other side to fly in, it landed on the desk by Hermione and held out its leg where a small piece of parchment was fastened. She took the scroll and the owl immediately flew back out of the window into the night, unfurling it Hermione began to read aloud to the others.

_Dear Mrs Weasley_

_Of course I would be delighted to offer you help in a matter of wandlore magic, especially if it is to help the wife of Harry Potter, I owe him, you and your husband a great debt for saving my life. Perhaps we could meet tomorrow after closing? I usually close the shop at five o clock, if you would like to come to the shop just before then we could take our conversation upstairs where we should not be disturbed._

_Yours_

_Mr Ollivander _

"Bloody brilliant," said Ron as he hugged his wife, "I knew Ollivander would do it for you!"

"He's doing it for Harry and Ginny and you too," she said indicating the mention of her husband in the letter.

"I know but, you wrote to him and…anyway I just knew it!" They closed the last book they had been reading and decided to call it a night in the library retreating to the cosy, warm kitchen to discuss the next stage. It was finally beginning to feel like they were getting somewhere, it may be going slow but it was beginning to go now. Ginny retired to her room shortly after Ron and Hermione left, they had decided that Hermione would go alone the following day as they didn't want to crowd the old man and she would be the one who would know what to ask and understand what he said to her, and most importantly she would remember everything he said.

Climbing into the large empty bed Ginny felt the usual sense of loneliness that she had become accustomed to, going to bed seemed to be the hardest time for her, she missed sharing it terribly and often forgot for a second when she woke up that he would not be there, she'd reach out to touch Harry and then realisation would dawn on her, he had not shared her bed for just over five months now and she felt that she was beginning to forget what it was like when he was there. Reaching out once again to stroke the empty space where his body should have been she began to sob a little, the rock around her neck was still glowing and she reminded herself that he was still out there, loving her, but that didn't take away the pain and loneliness. There was a part of her that was empty because he wasn't there and she knew it wouldn't be whole again until he came back, she laid on her back and stared up at the ceiling, silently calling out his name in her head, asking him where he was and pleading for him to come back, the tears that leaked from her eyes ran down the cheeks on either side of her face, landing on the pillow and soaking into it.

When she first felt it she was shocked, and the shock turned immediately to distress before she realised, a split second later, what it was, "Charlie," she suddenly called out loudly sitting up in bed and smiling, "Charlie…" she repeated in a louder voice beginning to laugh a little, her brother appeared in the doorway minutes later, breathing heavily trying to catch his breath after dashing up the stairs to her side, "What is it?" he asked landing on the bed beside her and looking at her with concern.

"The baby," she said smiling, "It kicked!" Charlie was speechless, he had been expecting something bad and was not prepared for a snippet of good news, leaning forwards he hugged his sister tightly and then put his hand on her belly, she laughed again as she felt it kick once more and Charlie smiled too at the tiny force it was emitting, "I was thinking about Harry and…" she drifted off, a wistful look crossing her face. Charlie hugged her tightly as the joy at feeling her baby move turned to sadness at the thought that her husband, and father of the baby, wasn't there to share it. He held her for a while until she had cried herself to sleep, his heart breaking that she was going through this without the one person who would be as overjoyed as she was.

Then laying her head gently on the pillow he pulled the white linen covers around her shoulders and kissed her softly on her forehead, the strain was beginning to show on her body now, her stomach was protruding but the rest of her body seemed to be waning, Kreacher was insisting that she eat regularly and prepared her healthy balanced meals but the stress was still causing her to lose her actual body weight and the swelling in her stomach emphasised this weight loss even more. He cursed the Ministry and aurors once more before he closed the door to her bedroom, this should never have happened to Harry and his sister should never have been in this position. As he closed the door to his own bedroom he sent up a silent prayer that Ollivander would be able to offer them some useful information that might lead to finding Harry as soon as they could.

**Thanks for reading and don't forget to review! Thank you in advance!!**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

The bell tinkled softy behind Hermione as she closed the old wooden door of Ollivander's shop, she hadn't actually been inside the shop since the day she had bought her own wand when she was just eleven years old and about to begin her education at Hogwarts, she felt that same sense of trepidation that she had had all those years before but this time it was caused by the worry that if Ollivander could not offer them some help then she would not know where to turn next.

"Ah, Mrs Weasley, how good it is to see you again," the small, old man behind the counter said as he lifted his gaze up to her.

"Thank you Mr Ollivander, it is good to see you again too, I must say you are looking well." The man hurried over to lock the shop door behind her as he turned the ageing gold sign hanging at the window so it read 'closed' to the outside. "Not very difficult considering the last time you saw me I had been festering in the Malfoy dungeon for over a year," he smiled at her softly before continuing, "Please come this way," and he headed behind the shop counter. She followed him down a long, narrow passageway lined with tall shelves which were stacked high with boxes of various different shapes, colours and sizes. Small stepladders were dotted here and there to enable Mr Ollivander to get up to the highest shelves which she imagined were almost out of his reach even from the top step.

At the end of the passageway was a small and extremely cluttered room with a heavy looking, oak desk in the middle of it below a small and rather dirty looking window. A single candle sat on the desk, the only form of light illuminating the contents of the desk which consisted of a variety of long thin boxes labelled, Veela hair, Unicorn hair, Phoenix feather, Dragon heartstring and many others which Hermione assumed were the different cores used in wands. A set of small highly polished tools sat in the middle of the desk and a piece of long thin wood was sat in a small turner which Hermione assumed was for sanding and polishing the wands that were obviously made here. To the side of the desk was a tall and wide chest of drawers similar to an apothecary table, each drawer was about three inches square and was labelled with the name of a different type of tree, there were more names then she could have imagined and as she looked around the room she noticed three more identical chests labelled with yet more varieties of tree.

Hermione was fascinated by it all she had found the art of wandmaking and the knowledge of wandlore intriguing ever since Harry had defeated Voldemort with the elder wand and she had discovered just how much magic there was behind a wand; being in the room where Mr Ollivander created these precious objects made Hermione feel in awe of the small man leading her through and up a narrow and crooked set of steps. At the top of the stairs she found herself in a neat little room with a large squashy chintz armchair next to an old, crooked stone fireplace, a small, black cauldron hung over the fire and seemed to be bubbling away. Again there was only one window allowing a limited amount of light to filter into the room though it was cleaner than the one in the room below, by this window was a small wooden table with two rough and rigid looking chairs pushed under it.

The wooden floorboards beneath her were covered by a ragged, paisley rug which had worn away in places where years of walking the same paths across it had taken its toll. In the far corner of the room was a door which Hermione assumed must lead into a bedroom and on the opposite wall a small sink stood atop a rickety wooden cupboard next to which was a small dresser and a knife block where, she mused, the man must prepare his meals. It was cosy and warm and a fitting home for a man who worked so hard practically living and breathing the art of wandlore. Mr Ollivander took two mugs from the dresser and busied himself making tea from the hot water which had evidently been what was bubbling in the cauldron. He motioned for Hermione to sit at the table as he carried the two steaming cups over and placed them down on it, she took hers and offered him thanks allowing him to sit down and take a minute before she began to explain what she had come for.

"I was so shocked to read about Mr Potter in the Daily Prophet, it must have been a terrible shock to you and even more so to his lovely wife, may I ask how she is doing?"

"She is not so well Mr Ollivander, though she is pregnant with Harry's baby."

"Oh," he answered not sure what else he could say.

They had decided not to share their theory that Harry was still alive with anyone outside the family, they did not want anyone at the Ministry to find out that they were investigating his disappearance for themselves and knew it would be easier if they just played along with the Ministry's story for now. Hermione had explained her leave of absence from work by saying that she was caring for her sister in law who had just lost her husband and had discovered that she was pregnant. No one really noticed that Ron was not at work as his job was not as high profile and he worked with his family members anyway. No one had questioned either of them since they had begun their search for Harry and they wanted it to remain that way.

"You said you had a question about wandlore that might help Mrs Potter, is that correct?" Hermione braced herself to share the story they had come up with to explain why they needed his help.

"It is Mr Ollivander. As I am sure you know just before their wedding Ginny was taken by Rodolphus Lestrange," the wise wizard nodded at Hermione but did not interrupt her flow, "Well when Harry married her he was given a gift, something that had been handed down from Dumbledore to my husband, a devise which Albus had invented himself. The object was special as it would enable Harry to find Ginny if ever he needed to, wherever she was, even if she was hidden by magic he would be able to reach the place where she was even if he could not actually see her through protective wards. He vowed never to let the object go as he was always afraid that Ginny might be taken by someone else at some time, unfortunately he kept to that word and took it with him when he went away, the object in question has now been lost along with Harry's wand and other belongings, probably forever. The problem we have is that a few days ago Ginny left us, she ran away from her and Harry's home leaving just a note to say that she could not handle losing her husband and being constantly hounded by reporters and that she would return soon but needed to be alone."

"I see," Mr Ollivander said to Hermione, "That was not a sensible thing to do."

"I know, we all understand that she is feeling very emotional and scared at the moment heightened even more so by her pregnancy of course, and it is true that the reporters won't let up on her, but we are extremely worried about her. No one can think where she might have gone, we have tried all the places that we can think of but have so far been unable to trace her. We don't know how long she will be gone for, but most of all in her fragile state of mind we are concerned that she may not come back at all. Naturally her family are sick with worry and feeling as they did last year when she was kidnapped by that horrible man. Before he left we all promised Harry that we would take care of her no matter what happened to him and we feel that we have let him down as well as her. However our biggest concern for her safety is that she left her wand behind seemingly on purpose as it was with the note that she left," Mr Ollivander gasped at this, "I know," Hermione continued, "She left it with the note saying that she wanted to be magic free, but without it we know that she could be in some danger."

She paused to allow the information to sink in before broaching the subject she had actually come to discuss. "What we were wondering is, with the magic of wandlore is there any way we can find her using the wand? I know that the wand chooses the wizard and knowing what I do about the elder wand I know that wand magic is special and can run very deeply forming a bond between itself and it's owner, what I wanted to know is, if the wand can choose the wizard, well…can it find them?" she looked imploringly at the old man in front of her, his features showed his concern for Ginny and the imaginary situation that they had created for her. She waited and watched him, he seemed to be playing something over in his mind as if he was trying to decide on an answer to her question, there was silence for a few minutes before he spoke, "There is a way," he said slowly.

Hermione let out the breath that she hadn't realised she was holding, "Though it is not easy and requires a vast amount of magic, it takes an immense amount of energy to cast the spell, energy which must be taken from the elements," he halted and looked up at the girl with a desperate look on her face, he looked worried about continuing and took a deep breath before saying, "It will take its toll on the castor for a while, a few days, possibly weeks. Wandlore is a deep and complex branch of magic which must be studied in depth for thorough understanding, as you know the wand has a deep connection with its owner, the wand can recognise its owner even when they are not in possession of them, but to find them from afar is more difficult, I can tell you how to do it but I will be breaking one of the oaths I made as a wandmaker to keep my secrets in my heart and share them only with another of my kind."

Hermione looked shocked, she had not realised that he would have to go against his oaths to help them and was unsure now of her own feelings about it. She needed to find Harry and this was the last avenue they could think of in terms of finding the owner of the wand, who they were convinced was Abery, but she also knew that Ollivander was a proud man and she was not convinced that she would be happy for him to go against his morals in order to help them. She played these thoughts over in her head as he continued, "However this is a serious matter and as it involves the family of Mr Potter, who saved my life and many more out there, then I shall share it with you only. I must insist though that _you_ perform the spell and that you do it from memory as I am forbidden to record it in any way, can you do that?"

Hermione nodded eagerly feeling some relief but still tinged with guilt, he saw this in her face and added, "Mrs Weasley, if it were not for Harry Potter and that poor house elf Dobby, I can assure you that I would not have lasted much longer in that prison all those years ago, I vowed to myself when I was better that if I could ever do anything to help the young man or his family in the future then I would do whatever it took, even if that means going against my oaths, there are some things in this world that are more important, and as I can unfortunately not help Mr Potter anymore, then I am even more adamant that I will help his wife and the safety of his unborn child, you are not asking me to do anything I am not proud of so do not feel guilty for it. I can assure you that you did the right thing in coming to me, now I can tell you how to perform the spell and I am confident that you will be able to perform it." So Mr Ollivander began to tell her what she would need to do.

"You must do the spell while touching the bare earth, you will need the four elements altogether, earth, wind, fire and water. Draw a large circle with your wand in which you must sit, touching the earth then place the wand on top of a picture of Mrs Potter in a smaller circle also drawn on the ground by your own wand, you will need to call the other elements by performing simple charm spells to create them, once you have the elements there you must recant a simple sounding but very powerful spell over and over until the four elements combine, _re__s__cansum__ moraymorgre deium pastante. _The elements will swirl around you enclosing you in a cocoon when this happens you will not be able to stop the spell, no one will be able to reach into the cocoon either, the earth will rise up from the edge of the large circle and the other elements will mix together with it in the swirl, you must maintain your focus on the wand in front of you and continue to chant the words over and over.

"The strength will drain from you as you repeat the incantation but you must keep it up until the elements have all combined, they will continue to swirl for a short while which is when you will need to rely on your strength and power, it is imperative that you continue to chant while they swirl, after a short while they will destroy the picture but take it with them into the wand, the wand should glow bright amber for a few seconds and then it will work like a point me spell but rather than pointing north, it will point in the direction of its owner, that may be a few feet away or a few thousand miles, it will point in the direction of them and you can follow it until you find the wand's owner, only when it is returned to their own hand will the spell stop. I must warn you that when the picture is destroyed and the elements take it into the wand you will most likely pass out, and as I said before it may be some time before you wake up, and even then you will be weak physically and magically. It is a dangerous spell Mrs Weasley but I am confident that you will be able to perform it, I only hope you recover quickly from its effects." He closed his eyes as he finished and placed his hands on the table in front of him, it was clear that he was worried, not because he had told her the spell, but because of the effect he knew it would have on her.

"Thank you Mr Ollivander," Hermione said, "I know you have had to compromise yourself in some way to share this with me, please be assured that I shall tell no one of this spell and will make sure that I am the one to cast it."

"I only hope that it works for you, Mrs Weasley, as I said it is not an easy spell to do, it takes great strength and an inordinate amount of magic, but if I did not think you were capable of achieving it then I would not have told you about it." Mr Ollivander smiled at Hermione who rose from her seat at his small table, she followed him back down the stairs and along the narrow, cluttered passageway to the shop. "Thank you again Mr Ollivander," she said as he opened the door for her, "It was my pleasure dear," he replied and they smiled at each other once more before she stepped back out into Diagon Alley.

Walking along the street weaving through the shoppers who were still out and about she thought about the effect this spell could have on her, there was no doubt that they would have to perform it but if it took her out for a few days then Ron and Charlie would have to take the wand and find Abery without her, it wasn't that she didn't trust them to do it, she just felt odd that she would not be a part of it, she was beginning to understand how Ginny must be feeling and how she must have felt at the prospect of the three of them leaving her behind when they were searching for horcruxes. She sighed as she reached the cosy interior of the Leaky Cauldron waving at Tom behind the bar she took a seat near the fireplace to await her appointed time for flooing back to Grimmauld Place, checking her watch she realised that she was half an hour early so decided to have a butterbeer while she waited. Sitting at the bar alone she stared into her butterbeer re-playing the conversation that she had just shared with Ollivander and did not hear footsteps approaching until her thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice at her side, "Not good for you staring into a butterbeer you know!" She turned to look up into the smiling face of Dean Thomas, a friend from school and an ex-boyfriend of Ginny's.

"Hi Dean, how are you?" she asked giving him a weary smile while simultaneously blushing at his comment about her staring into her drink. "Not too bad thank you, I see becoming a Weasley has helped with the turning red from embarrassment," he chuckled. She batted him gently on the arm as he sat down on the stool next to her, they continued to talk about what else they had been up to since the last time they had seen each other and shared a few tales of times at Hogwarts. Eventually the subject of Harry and Ginny was broached and he asked, "So how is Ginny holding up?"

"She's…holding up." Hermione stated.

"And the rest of you? I couldn't believe it when I heard about Harry, sometimes life just isn't fair is it? The worst part was that I can't even remember the last time I spoke to him, I mean I've hardly seem him really since we left school and I know we weren't the best of friends like you guys were but we spent six years sharing a dorm and doing classes together and I felt so bad when I read the story in the Prophet."

"We're getting by thanks for asking, we're staying with Ginny at the moment, you know, getting through it together." He looked downcast at the mention of Ginny and his heart felt heavy at the thought of her being so alone.

"Well make sure you tell her I'm thinking of her, I suppose I knew we were never right for each other back then, and I was always a bit jealous of her and Harry, but I would never have wished anything like this on her, just tell her I'm sorry you know. I'd like her to think she can consider me a friend"

"Don't worry I will!"

"And if she ever wants to…well catch up or anything, I…er I'd get her a coffee or whatever," Hermione eyed him suspiciously, "Oh no not like that, no I mean she's Harry's…well wid…erm." He looked uncomfortably back at Hermione.

"I get you Dean, I'll tell her and I'm sure she'd like to know that you are concerned about her, anyway she does have some happier news!"

"Oh?" Dean asked.

"Yes, she's pregnant."

"Oh wow, brilliant she must be…" could he say happy when the father was not going to be around? "Oh well it's good for her anyway," he decided on.

"It was nice to catch up Dean and I'll pass on your regards to Ginny, but I'm afraid I must be going I have an appointed floo time so I can't stay. Send an owl sometime and maybe we could all catch up together?"

"Will do, yeah that would be good!" Hermione hugged him and ran to the fireplace in time for her appointed slot to Grimmauld Place, she threw powder into the air and disappeared landing seconds later in the empty kitchen of Harry and Ginny's home. Crossing the room she headed through the door and up the stairs to the study where she found the three Weasley siblings arguing about something which had happened during their childhoods. They stopped talking and looked hopefully at Hermione when she opened the door, she smiled to show then that she had good news and their facial expressions turned to eager ones as she sat at the desk and began to tell them what she had learned from Ollivander.

Nobody interrupted her flow and she had told them everything before one of them uttered a single word, when they did speak it was Ron who made the first comment, "It sounds dangerous Hermione, maybe I should do the spell," he was obviously worried about the effect it would have on her and she was grateful that he cared so much about her wellbeing. "No Ron, I promised Ollivander that I would do it, and besides you will be more help to Charlie out there searching for Abery, I can cast the spell and then stay here with Ginny, she and Kreacher will look after me while you and Charlie take the wand to Romania and find him." He tried to argue with her for a while longer but eventually relented and agreed that she could do the spell, he wasn't happy about it, especially as they were unsure of exactly how it would affect her, but he realised that she would be better at the spell anyway and like she had said at least she would be back here where it was safe while he and Charlie went looking for Abery. They had always been a team the two of them and Harry and he had always looked out for her wellfare while they were doing dangerous things but since he had become involved with Hermione in a romantic way he had been even more protective of her and always felt that she would be safer at home. He had never tried to make her though as he knew exactly what she would say in reply, at least this way he would sort of get his own way for once.

"So when should we do it then?" Hermione asked the three Weasley siblings returning her gaze from various points around the room, "There isn't really much point in waiting is there?"

"Tomorrow?" Charlie suggested, "That way me and Ron have time to get ourselves ready to go back to Romania tonight, we're not coming back this time until we find him, agreed? We'll check in with you two some other way but I think it best that we concentrate our efforts out there," he turned to Ron who nodded in response. "That settles it," he concluded, "We could go to the Burrow first thing in the morning to perform the spell then we have the earth, can you conjure the other elements Hermione?" she nodded, "We'll get you back here before we leave so you can rest while we're away, that way Mum won't fuss over you!"

"Brilliant," Hermione smiled, "That's the plan then! Can we get something to eat now then?" The others nodded and Ron practically ran from the room at the mention of food, Charlie followed with a little more restraint and the two women trotted along in their wake, "Oh, I ran into Dean at the Leaky Cauldron," she mentioned as they all climbed down the stairs, "He sent his best wishes Gin and said if you ever wanted to catch up, to let him know."

"But she's Harry's wife!" Ron blurted turning on his heel and almost tumbling down the stairs.

"As a friend, Ron!" she added but Ron did not seem to be placated by the comment as he turned back and walked on ahead of them still listening to the rest of the conversation, "He was just feeling bad that he couldn't remember when he'd last seen Harry, I think he wanted to catch up with all of us actually," she added as they entered the room to see a feast layed out by the house elf, Ron began to blush at his outburst, "Actually I think it might be a good idea when we've done this," the others looked at her questioningly as they sat at the table.

"Why?" Ron asked grabbing a chunk of bread from a plate piled high in the middle of the table and slathering it with butter. "Well, we're keeping up the pretence that Harry is dead so that no one suspects we are investigating it ourselves, and I know that if he was really dead it would be dreadful for Ginny, but we've been hiding out here for a long time now and I think we should, well Ginny should be seen out and about again before people start to get suspicious about what we are doing. It's been four months now and the press have been trying to get to her, I just worry that people might think it strange that she's still hiding away," the others including Ginny nodded in agreement with Hermione's suggestion.

"When we've done all this we'll get in touch with Dean, I'll go for a drink in the Leaky Cauldron with him and let myself be seen, Skeeter wil love it, she'll make up some nice little story about me getting over my poor dead husband so quickly that it will fit in with her notion that I used a love potion!" She grinned at the others and they laughed along with her, "It'll be nice to catch up with him actually, we did have some fun times at Hogwarts when we were going out," Ron frowned at her when she said this, "Ron it won't hurt to talk about them again!" Ginny giggled, Ron still looked rather annoyed again but kept his thoughts to himself, he could worry about that when it happened, until then he would worry about the dangerous spell his wife was going to perform and the search that lay ahead of them for the missing auror. The rest of the evening passed quickly as the girls chatted by the fire while the boys dug the tent back out and packed up the essentials they would need for their return to Romania.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

When they all arrived at the Burrow the following morning they found that the place was deserted, "Brilliant," said Ginny, "I thought Mum might be out today, I think she's gone to Diagon Alley. We can do the spell without her knowing because if Hermione ends up in a state you know she'll make a fuss and demand that we stay here, this way we can do the spell, Ron can apparate her back to Grimmauld Place and you two can go."

"You know what Sis? You're bloody brilliant," Ron chuckled, "Right then let's get going!"

They found a spot under a tall, willow tree near the field where they played quidditch which they thought would be good for the spell and Hermione marked out a large circle using the tip of her wand in the earth below it. Taking her place in the middle while the other three watched on curiously she drew a second, smaller circle in front of her and then began to summon the other three elements, "_Incendio,_" she whispered and a bright orange flame appeared, hovering in the air around Hermione's head, "_Aguamenti_" the flame was followed by a jet of water which shot from the end of her wand, she performed a muttered spell which made the water spin inside an invisible bubble then finally "_Venterinum_" a strong blast of wind issued from the end of her wand which began to swirl like a miniature tornado.

Hermione cast a simple hover charm to make the three elements float around her as she prepared to say the spell Ollivander had given to her the previous day. Ron stood nearby looking like an expectant father, desperate for the ordeal to be over for Hermione but somewhat afraid of what was to come, he concentrated on what she was doing, ready to be there for her whatever happened next. She took the wand and the picture of Abery, which they had found in the folder of parchments they had taken from Harry's office, out of the pocket of her robes and placed them on the ground in front of her before carefully and slowly repeating the words, "_re__s__cansum__ moraymorgre deium pastante," _over and over again.

The three Weasley siblings stood by and watched in awe as she recanted the spell, at first nothing happened, but by the third repetition the three swirling elements hovering in the air began to move around, without any warning, on the fourth repetition the earth that had been disturbed when Hermione drew a circle began to rise like a thin, grainy wall around her, as it touched each of the other elements it began to join them swirling around the circle and beginning to build a cocoon around the young witch in the centre. Hermione continued to repeat the words, "_re__s__cansum__ moraymorgre deium pastante,_" as the four elements combined and began to swirl faster and faster around her head, she could feel her body drain of energy but she continued to chant with all her might concentrating on the four words. The rest of the world seemed to be non-existant to her now and she swayed a little as she felt her head begin to pound, Ron saw this but dared not move to help her until she had completed the spell, he had known that he would not be able to do anything once the cocoon had begun to form but his worry increased as he actually watched the love of his life performing this dangerous spell and realised he could do nothing to help her if anything went wrong.

As the furious swirling became faster and faster it began to resemble a snake shape which suddenly started to coil its way around Hermione moving further and further down until eventually it made its way towards the wand on the floor, with one final movement it blasted into the wand sending bright yellow sparks flying out of the end of it and the photograph beneath disintegrated. For a few seconds the wand glowed bright amber but the youngest Weasley boy did not see this, "Hermione," he screamed as she fell backwards at an awkward angle, her legs bent beneath her and her back laying across the ground, her eyes were closed and her face had become as pale as hot ash. Darting quickly forwards he picked up Hermione in his arms, her head fell back as he did this and a look of grave concerned crossed over his face.

"Ginny get the wand and lets get back to Grimmauld Place," Charlie shouted rushing over to help his brother hold onto the young woman in his arms. Ginny scooped up the wand and ran for the kitchen of the Burrow to floo back home while Ron gripped hold of his wife tightly and spun on the spot appearing a second later on the front step of his sister's home. If he hadn't been so worried about the lifeless body in his arms he would have marvelled at how precisely he had apparated to his sister's home. Charlie appeared almost simultaneously on the other side of the door and let them into the house, Ginny was already hurtling out of the kitchen and followed the two Weasley men up the stairs to the room where Hermione and Ron had been sleeping, he laid her down on the bed and stepped back to allow Ginny to fuss over her, moping her brow with a cloth and checking all her vital signs.

After a few minutes which felt like endless hours to Ron Ginny stepped away and explained what had happened to her body, "I have checked her vital signs, her heartbeat is weak but regular," Ron's face became drip white at this comment but she reassured him, "It is weak Ron, but that does not mean it will fail, I have seen exhaustion from spell damage at the hospital, this is normal, the body has had all its strength taken from it and the heart is struggling but it will not stop, it has slowed down to allow itself to regulate properly. It will grow stronger as she rests, her body has shut down to allow this to happen, this simply means she will sleep for a while and when she wakes she will probably be too tired to do anything other then prop her eyes open. But that's all her body needs, I will prepare her some strengthening potions for when she wakes which will speed up her recovery, but there is nothing we can do except let her sleep, she will be fine Ron, I promise," she saw the worried look again in his eyes but it softened at her words.

"Can we wait until tomorrow before we go?" he asked imploringly, "Just to see that she's…" he drifted off and suddenly began to truly understand what his sister must currently be going through.

"Of course," Charlie said and Ginny nodded her agreement, she knew what it was like to fear for your true love and had the deepest of sympathies for her brother, they left the room so he could be alone with her and waited downstairs for him.

Ron remained at his wife's side for the rest of the day and through the night accepting food brought to him by Kreacher and Ginny, but refusing to join them in the kitchen.

"Will she be alright?" Charlie asked his sister as the sun set that night.

"Honestly, I can't tell you Charlie, that was a powerful spell and it has drained her strength completely, I have never felt a heartbeat so weak before, and it scared me, but Hermione is strong and I have to believe that she will be fine. Her breathing was shallow but I have noticed an improvement as the day has passed which is a good sign, I don't think she will die but I don't know how long it will take her to wake up, and I'm also not sure what kind of state she will be in when, or," she paused to make sure Ron had not decided to join them, "If she does." Charlie looked shocked, this was not what he had expected to hear and suddenly began to realise just how dangerous this spell had been, he also realised that Hermione had known the risks and it reminded him once more of how close these four young witches and wizards were, that Hermione had been willing to sacrifice herself this way in order to find one best friend and make her other best friend happy again.

"You must not tell Ron though Charlie, he has to focus on what's in front of him now, I know that sounds a little selfish on my part but it's not this is what Hermione wanted, I know she has done it for me but she's done it for Harry and Ron too, take him and keep him focused on what you have to do, I will look after Hermione."

They spent a few more hours talking about Hermione's health and discussed the senarios she might wake up in before making their way to bed, Ginny checked in on her friend and found Ron asleep in the chair by her bedside holding her hand. Dropping a blanket over him Ginny tucked him in and then checked Hermione's pulse once more, she was happy to find that it was beating ever so slightly faster than it had earlier and she took this as a good sign. Closing the door softly behind her she walked along the landing to Charlie's room where she informed him about the slight improvement in Hermione's pulse before climbing the next set of stairs to her own room. Climbing into her lonely bed once more she curled up on her side placing her hands protectively over the small bump which was now growing around her middle, the baby kicked again and she smiled to herself wishing that Harry was there to share the experience with her. She missed him so much that it almost felt painful, she tried to focus on the fact that she knew he was still alive but that did not bring him any closer to her, she wanted to reach out and touch him, be touched by him and it felt like a knife in her heart each time she remembered that he was not just out at the office or visiting a friend, but she also felt that while she carried this baby inside of her she had a small piece of him with her all the time even if she could not touch it physically he was there with her.

A few tears dripped down her face again as she stared at a photograph of the two of them on her bedside table, it was the one Harry had had on his desk at work, Drindle had sent his personal belongings to Grimmauld Place when he had cleaned out Harry's office and she had decided to place it by her bed so she could gaze at it when she was missing Harry the most, which was usually at night. They were gliding around on the dance floor at their wedding and Ginny started to replay the whole day again in her head, remembering her determination that Harry would be there and then that moment when she truly thought he would not appear. Her stomach flipped again as she thought of the handsome, raven haired wizard who appeared behind her brother looking sheepish and scared, but she hadn't cared at all, she had just been happy and not because she had proved that she was right but because he had been there and she knew that they would get to spend the rest of their lives together.

The rest of their lives had seemed such a long time then and she could hardly believe that they had only had three months together before all of this happened and he was taken away from her again, it seemed their lives were destined to be like this but she hoped that once he returned this time they would get to spend much longer together before they were inevitably parted again. She sighed as she thought about her predicament again, but a swift kick from her baby reminded her that she would never have it any other way, marrying Harry Potter had been the one thing she had wanted for a long time and if being with each other meant they had to be apart like this sometimes then she would settle for that, it was much better than her life would have been without him in it at all.

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Chocolate brown eyes were staring at him, pleading with him, they were asking him for something, he didn't know what they wanted but they looked so sad and hurt and he desperately wanted to change that, "What can I do?" he called out but they couldn't answer him, they were only eyes and he didn't know what face they belonged to, he just knew they were the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen and he wanted them to look at them forever, "Tell me what you want, please, I want to help you," he called but they could only stare never wavering and never changing from that hollow, empty look. "Tell me please…tell me…what can I?"

"Dudley," a voice interrupted him, was it the voice that belonged to the eyes? It didn't seem pleasant enough to belong to them and they seemed to be leaving, "No…don't," he called to them, "Please stay...stay with me...I want to help you," but they were fading away fast and the voice which he was sure did not belong to them was calling to him insistently, "Dudley, it's alright, wake up you're just dreaming." He opened his own eyes to see the cold, steely grey ones of Annala staring down into his, he had never noticed them before probably because he hadn't really looked at them but he searched them out now, hoping they would be the soft, deep brown ones he had just seen, hoping he could somehow make them happier and more alive, but they weren't. In comparison to those beautiful ones they were cold and uninviting, he wanted to close his own eyes again and see the other ones but he was awake now and beginning to remember what had been going on for the last, how long had it been?

"Dudley, are you alright? I think you were dreaming. You should drink this," she held up the purple liquid again, "You'll sleep better with it."

"No," he said forcefully, "I don't need any more of that, I feel better and I don't want to sleep well, or at least with that stuff, I feel like I've been unconscious for months, how long has it been?"

"A few weeks," she replied.

"It feels so much longer, but I need to start doing something, I need to move, please don't make me drink any more of that stuff." She looked angry but he stared straight into her eyes and she shook her head, "Okay, maybe a bit of time awake will do you good, but you should drink it at night, to help you sleep."

"Right," he relented realising that he would have to try and convince her again when night came but for now at least he could start to feel like he was a human being again. "My knee feels good now too, maybe I ought to try using it again?" she frowned but he looked at her adamantly and she nodded her head, "Okay, we'll try getting you into the other room." He smiled at her as he pulled the covers back from the bed and sat up swinging his legs round to hang over the bed, looking down he noticed that he was only wearing a nightshirt, he hadn't really thought about it before but he realised he had no idea how he had been dressed when he came here and if he had been wearing this nightshirt for the whole time.

"How..." he coughed uncomfortably, "How have I been changed?" Annala looked up at him curiously and he indicated the nightshirt.

"I changed your nightclothes every few days," she replied nonchalantly, at that moment Dudley suddenly became acutely aware that he was not wearing anything underneath his nightshirt and began to feel even more uncomfortable. "Well you couldn't stay in the same clothes all the time could you?" she asked supressing a small giggle this annoyed him as he was feeling embarassed and quite uncomfortable about the fact that a stranger had been undressing him and he hadn't even been aware of it.

"I could have changed myself when I was awake," he said with a tinge of anger, he didn't like the thought that she had seen him naked and was sure changing himself would not have been too dificult even if he had been unable to stand properly.

"Well you were never really awake for long enough," she replied sounding a little hurt, Dudley's demeanor softened a little bit as he heard the inflection in her voice, she was after all taking good care of him and healing him well, he supposed that changing his clothes was not that bad a thing considering how well she had taken care of him so far, she had obviously only been trying to help.

"You're right, I'm..I'm sorry," he stammered, "You were only trying to help," her demeanour seemed to change a little and he continued, "Perhaps I should do it myself from now on though, if I don't take the potion quite as much now I'm feeling better, then I could change myself before I settle for the night." She looked at him for a moment as if deciding whether she liked the idea and he began to feel uncomfortable again under her gaze as he realised those cold, grey eyes had been the ones looking down at his naked body, even if it had only been to make him more comfortable. She nodded her agreement and said quietly, "Perhaps, anyway let's see if we can get you into the other room then, I doubt it will be easy, the pain and swelling might be gone but like I said it was a bad break and might take longer to strengthen.

It was a struggle but Dudley was determined to make it, he was afraid to put his vast weight on her lean form but was equally determined to get out of the bedroom, he dragged his bad leg behind him putting as much weight as he could on the good one while Annala tried to keep him up. Eventually they made it to the other room and Dudley felt better just for being up and out of the last one, he sat in a chair near the window and tried to peer out of it, there wasn't much to see as they appeared to be in a forest and all he could see was trees, but at least it was a change of scenery. Annala joined him by the window perching herself on the arm of the chair, her nearness made him a little uncomfortable again, he suddenly realised that he had not been awake and alone since he had first woken up and he was desperate for a bit of time to think. "

How long do you think it'll be before I can walk again?" he ventured, she brushed her hand against his arm and replied, "I still think you should take it easy for a while, the swelling has gone completely but it really won't be as strong as it was." He nodded, "But maybe I should try to use it a bit more, the sooner it gets going again, the sooner I can try to find out who I am." She stroked his arm but didn't say anything he wanted to withdraw the arm as it felt wrong to him being caressed in such a way by this woman, he assumed she was trying to be comforting but he still didn't like it, he longed to be alone and be able to think about what he should do, he was grateful for the help she had given him but he wanted to find out who he was and was sure that staying here and sleeping so much would not help him to do that. "Do you mind if I have some time alone?" he asked her tentatively, "I…I just want to think a little, now my head has cleared a bit I want to see if I can remember anything."

She smiled at him but it seemed a reluctant one, she rose from the chair arm anyway and went into the bedroom where he had been for the last two weeks closing the door behind her and leaving Dudley to his thoughts. His body still felt wrong to him, it was as if he was in a body suit and it was the wrong size, he searched through the few flashes he had had when he first awoke, searching for a person to latch onto but it was no use, the only thing that felt vaguely familiar to him were the eyes he had seen in his dream, he realised he had been seeing them in his dreams almost since he first awoke here, but had so far not been awake enough to think about them. When he did dwell on them he felt like he was drowning in them but knew he would never die there, they would look after him even though they seemed so sad and hurt, he once more longed to heal them and make them happy, though they were already beautiful he felt that they would be more beautiful if they were happy eyes, who did they belong to and why did they give him such a warm feeling?

He spent a few hours alone in the room thinking over what Annala had told him about the circumstances in which she had found him, he knew he was British but in Romania and he began to wonder why, there had been some kind of demonstration the night he had been found, but what was it for, it was definitely some kind of dark magic, had he been involved in that? Or had he been on the other side? A soft click from the corner of the room signalled Annala re-entering it, she smiled at him and walked over to the small kitchen area by the door to the shack.

"Annala," he asked in his gruff voice, this again didn't sound right to him but he would worry about that later.

"Yes," she replied turning to face him.

"I was thinking, I'm British, so maybe if I go to the Romanian Ministry and tell them that I'm British but don't know who I am they might be able to find out. I mean if I went back to my home it might help my memory to return." He looked at her hoping she would find it a good idea. The look on her face said that she was thinking it over carefully and for a moment she did not reply, "What if I went, with your papers and said I had found them?" she answered turning back to the cupboard which she seemed to be taking lots of different bottles out of, "I mean you can't walk yet and you'll need a lot of energy to do that, do you really feel up to it yet?" He sighed feeling totally at the mercy of this young woman, he was grateful for her help in healing him and he had to admit she had done a great job in such a short time, but he was starting to feel that he wanted to do something for himself, "I could apparate with my wand, by the way where is it?" She stopped what she was doing and didn't answer him immediately, "It's in the room," she said quickly, "But even if you apparate to the Ministry you'll have to get yourself around somehow. I've been thinking about it for a few days but wanted to see what you thought first, let me go while you build up some strength in your knee, I can find out anything they know about you and then when you are fit you can either visit them yourself or go to your own Ministry."

She turned around and began to mix some of the liquids she had taken from the cupboard, she seemed to be mixing a potion but it was not the same colour as the one that Dudley had been drinking since he awoke, this one was pale green. She poured it into a glass and brought it over to the chair sitting on the arm again, "Don't look so worried," she said seeing the expression on his face, "This one won't knock you out, you were right I think you've had enough rest, it's time to try using the knee a bit more otherwise it'll seize up, this is a bone and muscle strengthening solution, it will help the bones in your knee and the muscles which move it to strengthen themselves, you've been off it for a month now so even though it is completely healed it is too weak to support your weight, drink this and in a few days you'll notice the difference." He still looked dubious, "Have I given you anything that has not actually helped your recovery?" she asked noticing the look on his face "I can understand that I am a stranger to you really but all I have done is help you, I know you have slept a lot but look at the progress in your injury, and you've had lots of rest which will help too."

He had to admit to himself that she was right and he took the potion thinking that the sooner he was up and about again the sooner he could find out who he was and stop relying on the young girl. He drank it and found it much pleasanter than the purple one, it tasted quite sweet and did not burn on its way down, in fact this one was much more cooling and instead of making him feel instantly drowsy he felt more refreshed. "There, that's better isn't it?" she cooed and he had to admit that she was right, he nodded his head in response and she smiled. Then she pushed his hair off his face and stroked his head, he felt uncomfortable again at her touch but allowed her to do it, she continued to caress his face and slid down onto his lap, he jumped slightly and she laughed at him, "You look cute when you are nervous," she chuckled, "Just relax, I don't bite," she whispered huskily and without warning placed her thin, hard lips upon his.

The touch shocked him as she tried to part his lips with her tongue, he pulled his head away from her but she pulled it back by placing her hands in his hair, this too felt wrong he had not encouraged it and was not sure why she had suddenly made the move on him, he didn't enjoy her touch at all and was repulsed by her attempt to force her tongue into his mouth. With a strength he assumed had come from the potion he pulled her shoulders back and made her stop, "I'm not comfortable with this," he said looking into her face "And it's getting dark maybe I should go back to bed?" Annala looked hurt but jumped off his knee and helped him back to the bedroom, by the time he got into it Dudley had lost all the strength that the potion seemed to have given him and he collapsed onto the bed falling asleep as soon as he had got comfortable.

Annala smiled slyly as she pulled the covers over him and kissed him on the forehead, she had not meant to find him attractive but had found herself being drawn to him more and more over the last few months, he was totally dependant on her and she was quite turned on by that fact. She had no idea how long they would be in the shack and she had begun to get a little bored being on her own but her sudden infatuation with her ward had made her realise that the longer they were left there the better, he may not think of her in that way yet but there were ways and means for her to get what she wanted form the vunerable young wizard she was now gazing upon, and the sooner she tried out these things the better as far as she was concerned. What harm would it do to have little fun? She mused as she closed the door whispering, "Goodnight Harry Potter," once more.


	15. Chapter 15

**Okay, some of you may not like Annala now but wait until the end of this chapter!**

Chapter 15

Hermione's breathing and pulse beat was much stronger the next morning when Ginny checked in on her, Ron had climbed onto the bed at some point in the night and was sleeping soundly next to her, leaving her plenty of room but still holding her hand in his. Ginny woke him gently to tell him she had improved and that it would just be a matter of waiting for her to wake up, he thanked his sister and told her he would be down soon and ready to go to Romania. She left him to say goodbye to his wife and helped Kreacher to get some breakfast ready for Charlie and Ron, the elder Weasley was reading the Prophet in the kitchen when she arrived and asked about Hermione's condition, he was pleased to hear there was more improvement and took this as a good sign that she would come through tired but unscathed.

Half an hour later both Weasley boys were ready to go, Charlie had the wand in his hand which was already pointing and Ron was carrying the magically reduced bag containing the tent, their belongings and a variety of other things which Hermione had packed for them the previous morning.

"I know it's hard Ron, but try not to worry too much, she's just having a long sleep and regaining her strength, she has improved so drastically since yesterday that I can't see there being any problems at all, let her rest and you do what you need to do," Ginny smiled at him.

"Thanks Gin, I know she's in good hands and that's all I need to ease the worry," he said trying to sound convincing.

"Mate, she's a strong girl and a Weasley now! She's going to be fine, Gin will let us know if anything happens, let's get out there and start searching, then we can get back home as soon as possible." He nodded at his brother and turned to give his sister a hug, "Take good care of her and you too," he indicated her swelling stomach and she smiled at his thoughtfulness.

"Don't worry I will."

Ginny saw them out of the front door and then returned to care for her patient, she was actually glad to feel useful again, leaving work to concentrate on finding Harry and take care of her baby was the easiest decision she had ever made, but it didn't stop her missing caring for patients, and she was glad to have a focus again that she could do more for.

Hermione's health improved as each day passed over the following week, her breathing had returned to a normal rate and so had her heartbeat, the blood was flowing around her body properly and using magical scanning tests Ginny had been able to ensure all her organs were functioning properly. With the help of Luna she had been able to do a magical brain scan using a special machine Luna had brought home with her under Harry's invisibility cloak and Ginny had discovered there was no damage whatsoever to any areas of her brain. There was nothing wrong with Hermione at all now except that she was sleeping heavily, Ginny was beginning to worry that she had been unconscious for so long but she was unable to speak to anyone about the after effects of the spell so all she could do was wait and worry. A few times she had contemplated contacting Ollivander and asking him about the after effects of the spell but had decided against it.

Her mother had flooed in on a daily basis to check on her daughter in law and was trying not to show how worried she was to her own daughter. When she had heard about the dangerous spell she had gone ballistic exclaiming that someone else should have performed it if it was that necessary that they do it and she too had been desperate to contact Ollivander for advice but Ginny had pursuaded her not to, though this had not been an easy task. Molly had then changed tack and become desperate to take Hermione to St Mungos but again Ginny had begged her not to saying that they would not be able to explain what had happened or why they had done the spell without causing suspicions. Eventually between the two of them Luna and Ginny had managed to persuade her that they would not be able to do anymore at the hospital than the two young healers could do at Grimmauld Place. Ginny had ended up telling Luna the truth about everything as she had become so worried about her sister in law that she had needed some hospital equipment. She had invited her and Neville to dinner one night and explained everything knowing that she would need Luna's help, they had both been shocked but also believed Ginny instantaneously when she had insisted that Harry was still alive somewhere.

"It's like the Vorstang conspiracy in Croatia," Luna had piped up excitedly, she had then spent the rest of the night telling the story her father had once published in the Quibbler about the Croatian cover up with a double agent. She had then decided to find the back issue of the story to go into the minor details, Ginny had humoured her and read the article even though she had realised almost straight away that it had very few similarities with Harry's case other than that there was a double agent, but the whole thing had been about a bakery in Croatia's capital, called Vorstangs, which had gone bust because one of the workers had been a spy from another bakery and he was stealing all their secrets. She doubted whether the story had even been true, never mind newsworthy but she also knew Luna was only trying to help in her own special way.

Another week later Hermione was still sleeping and she hadn't heard anything from either of her brothers, she was beginning to worry more and more about all of them, having her mother around and fussing over her pregnancy was driving her to distraction and she was so scared now that Hermione still had not woken up that she was beginning to stress a little more than was healthy for the baby. Her first relief came in the form of a small silver terrier which bounded into the kitchen late one night and began chasing around the room, she recognised it immediately as Ron's patronus and hoped that it had brought good news. She was not disappointed, the dog stopped in front of her and began to speak in Ron's monotone voice, "Gin and Hermione, we've found Abery's location, he's in the middle of the forest to the south end of Linden, unfortunately he has guarded his shelter with protective spells so we haven't been able to get to him yet. The wand took us straight to the location and we have been able to trace a full circle around an enclosure in the trees, but as I said it had spells around it so all we can do is wait for him to show. That's what we've been doing for the last fortnight but he must have a lot of supplies with him because he hasn't ventured out yet, don't worry about us, we'll wait it out as long as it takes. Take care of yourselves."

Ginny let out a huge sigh of relief, they were getting there and more importantly it sounded like they were safe, she prayed silently that the man would leave the wards soon and they would be able to get him back to the house as soon as possible. She decided to visit Hermione and share the news with her, she had taken to sitting and talking to the girl hoping it would help her to come back to them and also so she had something to do. Her health was exactly the same as it had been the previous week but Ginny was desperate for the older witch to wake up, not just to know she was alright but also to share the news with her properly and to help make the next plan when they did get Abery back here. She recounted the message from Ron's patronus and then went on to talk about how fed up the boys probably were having to wait around, when she had run out of things to say in a one sided conversation she reached across to the nightstand for a book she had begun to read aloud each night in the hope that Hermione would wake up and tell her she had already read that one.

She was part way through a chapter when a tapping sound at the window distracted her from the tale, she looked up to see a small and unfamiliar owl pecking at it, crossing quickly to the window she opened it and the small creature flew in, dropped a small parchment into her hand and flew back out again. Ginny watched it leave and looked down at the parchment, the messy scrawl on the outside was familiar but she could not place it, opening it quickly she began to read.

_Hi Ginny_

_I hope you don't mind me dropping you a line but I wanted to express personally my condolences about Harry, he was a great man and deserved to have a longer life. I would also like to offer my congratulations on your pregnancy and again my regret that he is not here to share the joy with you. Hermione said it would be nice to catch up some time and I thought I would send this owl to see if you were available at any time, I understand that you may not feel up to socialising yet so if you don't want to then I understand but I would just like you to know that I am around, we were once very close and I would like to think that you could count on me as a friend in these difficult times._

_Drop me a line if you feel up to it._

_Dean_

A tear ran down her cheek at his sincerity, they had not exactly had the most amicable break up when they were at school but they had only really been children when it happened, they were grown adults now and it was heart warming to know that he cared, it didn't take much to make her cry these days with her crazy hormones but his concern was enough to make it happen now. Turning back to look at Hermione she realised that she was also desperately missing adult company of her own age, Kreacher could drive her to distraction sometimes and was no good for talking to and although Luna popped in often she could do with a change of scenery and a distraction from the worries in her life, maybe a drink with Dean wouldn't hurt. She thought back on the conversation she had shared about meeting with Dean when Hermione had first mentioned him and remembered what she had said about Rita Skeeter, it could be quite amusing to see what she would make of her meeting up with another man, the thought made her chuckle to herself and she decided why not? Surely Harry would not mind her seeking out some adult company, just because it was a male did not mean she was betraying him in any way.

Closing the book and laying it back on the bedside Ginny tucked the covers around her friend and left the room quietly carrying the parchment from Dean in her hands, walking slowly up the stairs she prepared herself for another night alone in her bed any wondered where her lover was and what he was thinking about at that moment.

Ginny waited until Luna popped in again a few days later and asked her if she would watch over Hermione for her while she went to meet up with an old friend, she told Luna who it was as she didn't want to hide the fact that she was meeting up with Dean and make it seem like it was something more. She was still head over heels in love with her missing husband who she firmly believed would return to her soon and she did not want anyone important to her to read anything more into her meeting with Dean other than two old friends catching up, she was sure that Harry would have no objections to it and hoped no one else would either. Luna seemed to think it was an excellent idea especially as one of them would need to stay with Hermione at all times so Luna could not offer Ginny any slight social life and that was something Luna was adamant that Ginny really needed a little of to keep her spirits up. "Besides," Luna told her convincingly, "Harry wouldn't want you to be locked up here pining away for him, he'd want you to enjoy yourself and still worry about him, actually that's wrong he wouldn't want you to worry about him either because that's what Harry is like, go and have a bit of fun for a change, it'll do you and Bumpy good!" Luna had taken to calling her swollen stomach bumpy over the last couple of days and it had lifted Ginny's spirits too a little bit. She owled Dean straight away and suggested meeting at the Leaky Cauldron the following day for a drink and some lunch, he replied immediately and they were all set to meet at noon.

Ginny flooed to the pub after checking in on Hermione and Luna, she kissed her friend's head before she left feeling a little guilty for going out of the house while she was still sleeping, Luna noticed the guilty look and tried to placate her saying "Ginny, you deserve a break, and Neville agreed with me too, go and have a chat and a catch up, I'll still be here and if there's any change with her I'll send word by the floo," Ginny nodded her thanks and left the room, heading for the kitchen fireplace where she would floo to the Leaky Cauldron. Dean was waiting at a table in the corner of the pub when she arrived, he waved at her and she crossed over to take a seat opposite him, "You look good," he said nervously. He had been worrying about the meeting all night as he had never really gotten over Ginny Weasley, even though he knew she was much better suited to Harry, and he had been quite jealous when they had got together at school and again later on in their lives.

"Thanks Dean, how are you?" she asked brightly and he seemed to relax a little, he had thought it might be a bit awkward and had actually been very surprised when she had accepted his invitation, but then he had mused that she had been a widow now for almost six months and was probably ready to socialise a little again.

"I'm well thanks, working at Gringotts now."

"I heard somewhere that you had gone there, do you like it?"

"It's a job," he replied and chuckled, "It pays the rent," she laughed with him and it felt a little foreign, she had almost forgotten how to laugh at an everyday joke, Dean noticed that the smile brightened up her face completely and he remembered again how attracted he had been to her when they were younger. "What about you? I heard you were at St Mungos."

"I was, I trained as a healer and worked there for years, but I stopped working when…" she trailed off and he nodded, "Besides," she continued, "I've got someone else to look after now," she patted her stomach and Dean smiled. He coughed uncomfortably and shifted his eyes about quickly and Ginny knew what he was about to say, "I'm really sorry about Harry, Gin," he paused and looked up into her face, "I...I know you're probably sick of hearing people say it and I know it won't help but I really do think it was such a cruel thing to happen to you both, especially with you being..." he drifted off and gestured to her stomach and she looked down at it.

"Thank you Dean, but you don't have to feel so bad for me, I will always have a piece of Harry with me now," she looked at him and smiled twiddling with the glowing amber rock beneath her t shirt to remind herself that Harry was indeed alive but knowing she could not share this knowledge with Dean. He didn't know what else to say to her but she changed the conversation to something lighter and they spent another hour talking about the things they had been up to since the end of school and reminiscing about some of the things they had got up to while they had been there.

Shortly after one o clock Ginny began to yawn, "Sorry Dean, I tire so easily at the moment, I promise I'm not bored!" he laughed at her, "It's been nice to catch up and maybe we could do it again, but I really should get back and have some rest."

"Oh of course, he jumped up to help her from her seat, how far are you?" he gestured to her stomach.

"Almost six months now," she replied and smiled at him. His heart went out to her as he thought of her having to go through it all alone, it shouldn't have happened to this lovely young woman in front of him and he wanted to say he would be there for her but knew it would be inappropriate, besides he knew she had a large family around her who would help. "We should do this again soon," he said and she nodded her head before kissing him on the cheek and walking back to the fireplace, as the owner of Grimmauld Place she, and Harry of course, were the only people who did not need an appointed floo time to get the into the house along with Charlie who had become an inhabitant of Grimmauld place too. She threw the powder into the air and disappeared as Dean watched her go wishing he could go with her and take care of her the way she should have been taken care of.

He stayed in the pub for another hour nursing a tankard of butterbeer, he had forgotten how much fun Ginny could be and also how pretty she was and wondered if she had enjoyed reminiscing as much as he had. Naturally she would not think of him in the same way he was beginning to remember her as she was now Harry's widow. She also had his child to think of and besides it was far too soon after his death for her to even think about becoming involved with someone else, but he thought to himself that maybe one day she might begin to think of him in a romantic way again. He shook the thought away reminding himself that she was carrying Harry's baby and that she would probably not think of anyone in that way for a very long time, but he also decided then and there to remain in touch with the young witch and be there as her friend again if nothing else.

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Dudley woke up suddenly, something had disturbed him and he was not sure what it was, it was still dark outside and he had the feeling he had not been asleep for very long he remembered that he had spent that day in the armchair by the window searching his brain again for some small memory but nothing had emerged, he had also spent some time on those beautiful brown eyes which had visited him more and more often in his dreams he was still longing to know who they had belonged to. It took him a while to come round properly and open his eyes, he realised he could not remember how he had got back to the bedroom, he was still unable to put any weight on his knee as it buckled every time he did and he was beginning to get frustrated by his lack of progress. A breathing sound from the side of him caused him to turn quickly onto his side where he came face to face with the smiling face of Annala who was laid in the bed next to him,

"Hello," she said huskily and Dudley stared at her wracking his brain to remember any tiny detail about the previous evening but the last thing he remembered was taking the potion she gave him nightly which seemed to invigorate him for a short while before making him tired again. She lifted a bare arm from under the covers and traced a line down his face cupping his cheek in her hand and moving forwards to kiss him, he recoiled slightly and she pouted, it was at this point that he realised they were both naked she smiled coyly at him and it made him feel even more disturbed, surely they hadn't? He didn't feel like he would have but he could not remember anything, "How did you? What did we..?"

"I did what you wanted," she said sounding hurt and pulling the covers around her chin, "You asked me to come to your bed." He pulled his head backwards and glared at her, had he really said something like that to her?

"I…I'm sorry," he stammered, "I…I don't…well I don't remember and I…well it's not something I wanted to…I mean I'm grateful for everything you have done for me but I just don't feel that way about you…I'm sorry ."

"Don't worry Dudley, you will," she whispered he stared at her with a confused expression and saw her raise a wand in the air, she muttered under her breath, "Imperio," and he suddenly felt completely relaxed and without burden, his mind was clear and he could think of nothing other then that it was a wonderful feeling, as if everything was going to be taken care of for him and he could just stay in this relaxed state forever, he heard a whisper come from the girl now sitting naked in front of him, "Kiss me," it said as she climbed up and sat astride him on her knees, he pulled himself into a sitting position and leaned forwards to do as it commanded he felt cold bare arms wrap around his own naked torso as his lips met with this girl's and his mouth parted to allow her tongue to flick in and out of his mouth. He thought it didn't feel very good but in his completely relaxed state he couldn't think of a reason to stop so he continued to let this foreign feeling tongue caress his own, he heard her voice again telling him to touch her body and he obeyed it, for a second the thought 'why?' entered his head but then it answered that it would just be easy to do what it said if that is what the voice wanted.

He lifted his own hands and touched the slight form still clinging to him bringing his hands to rest on her breasts he heard a moan and the voice told him to caress and kiss them, his lips left hers and sought out the hard, erect nipples in his hands as he felt her cold hands close over him and begin to stroke gently up and down, he felt the blood begin to pump into him and he groaned softly, closing his lips over the nipples he had been searching out, suddenly he heard that voice of his own saying again with more feeling this time, "Why are you doing this?" he yanked his head back swiftly and the girl looked at him through hurt eyes before whispering another command, "Don't stop," she said and his head began to search out the nipples again she was still stroking him gently and he was beginning to feel more aroused but he stopped again, 'I don't want to,' said his own voice within his head, 'this doesn't feel right,' he heard another strong command from the girls mouth, this time it was angry and he looked up at her with a curious expression on his face for a second he was going to follow her demand but he sought out her steely grey eyes and had a sudden flash of soft brown ones in his head, "No," he shouted abruptly remembering those haunting chocolate eyes, "NO," he bellowed this time and he threw off the curse which had been trying to control him, all reason came flooding back into his mind and he glared at the naked and angry looking woman who was still trying to arouse him with her fingers when he did not want to be touched like this.

"What are you doing?" he screamed knocking her hand away from him with such force that she fell backwards almost off the bed. "You tried to...did you use the imperius curse on me?" Annala looked angrily into his eyes but he glared back at her ferociously, something had not been adding up about this girl for a while and he was suddenly desperate to get away from her, he knew that using the imperius curse was wrong no matter what the girl wanted. He continued to look intently at her as tears began to slip down her face, the anger had left it and was replaced by sadness but he refused to allow tears to cloud over something which he knew was wrong, "I...I'm sorry, I just," she stared down at the bedcovers trying to avoid his gaze, "I wanted you to want me and you didn't...I just thought if I could get you to...well then you might begin to see me in a different way," she had certainly done that he thought to himself, this girl who he had had to trust completely for the last few weeks had shown what he believed were her true colours, no good witch would use an unforgivale curse for their own personal gain, and certainly not to ellicit sex from another person. "How dare you," he barked, I have trusted you and relied on you, I thought you were helping me."

"I am," she interrupted, "I have helped you, your injuries are healed." She looked at him imploringly trying to search out his forgiveness, he thought to himself.

"But you have taken away my trust now, I...I need to leave here, I need to go to the Romanian Ministry and see what they can do to help me, I cannot trust you anymore Annala, I will leave as soon as it is light, now please leave me."

Taking the top sheet with her she rose from the bed and left Dudley in the room to think. What had they almost done? He was confused, it was not something he had wanted to do with her, he had been acutely aware since he had first woken up that she was being suggestive with him quite often but he had tried to make it clear that he wasn't interested. It didn't feel right to him and those soulful brown eyes were always flashing through his mind, he still didn't know who they belonged to but he knew they were the only eyes he wanted to be looking at when he was doing anything intimate at all. He was determined not to go back to sleep, adamant that as soon as it was light he would leave the shack somehow but he wondered how on earth that would be possible as he still could not walk yet, he tried to keep his eyes open as long as he could but the potion was still in his system and he began to think that it was that which had been causing him to forget how he got to bed at night and also which still kept him asleep longer than he would have liked.

Eventually he could stay awake no longer and drifted back to sleep dreaming of those eyes again, this time they were accompanied by red hair too, lots of beautiful, long and curly, auburn coloured hair, the eyes were still there and they were still filled with pain but a face was trying to form around them, he was begging them to tell him more, to explain why they were looking at him that way and why they were so full of hurt but they wouldn't answer him no matter how much he pleaded with them.

He didn't hear the bedroom door open an hour before dawn and was sleeping soundly when Annala performed a simple short term memory charm on him, "Now you will never remember this night Harry Potter," she spat into the room, "Only you would be noble enough to throw off a curse which was going to allow you to have sex with a woman who would give it to you willingly," she scoffed glaring at him angrily unable to bear that he had refused her while under a curse, she would make him pay for that she vowed then and there before closing the door.

When he woke up Dudley had a strange feeling that something had happened to him the previous night and tried to remember what it could have been but after a few minutes he put the feeling down to the strange dreams with the haunting eyes that he had had again. Feeling frustrated about still being couped up in the shack with Annala he decided that he was going to try out his leg again, he managed one step away from the bed before it buckled and he let out a yell of frustration as he fell onto the floor. Hoisting himself onto the bed with his arms he cursed his knee and glared at it willing it to work properly, he exercised it by bending and straightening the joint over and over before standing again and placing some weight onto it, as he felt it begin to buckle he shifted the weight to the other leg and managed to remain upright, something he had not managed to do quickly enough during all his previous attempts he saw this as a good sign that he might finally be getting somewhere.

Determined to keep trying he dragged on some clothes and spent the rest of the day doing exactly the same, he could not hear Annala and assumed she must have gone out so he took advantage of being out of her watchful gaze to push himself as far as he could. There was no pain in his knee whatsoever and after a few hours of shifting his weight about he found that he was able to hold himself up on his bad leg for a few seconds before it buckled, he decided that if he continued to do this every day he might be able to strengthen it quickly without the potions that Annala kept giving him which he was growing increasingly suspicious of.

He was tired of being dependent on this young girl and was worried that she was not being completely honest with him about who she was, how she had come to find him and about her prognosis on his knee injury, he knew that the sooner he could get himself moving about the sooner he could get away from this place and when that happened he would be much more comfortable. He still had an uneasy feeling about the night before, he felt like he had lost part of the evening somewhere, he could not remember getting to bed and had been a little disturbed to find that he was naked when he woke up, the fact that she was still undressing him when he had asked her not to was worrying and spurred him on even more to continue strengthening his leg and get away from the place as soon as he could.

**Okay sorry i know some of you will hate me for that chapter with her, but I needed to add something to make you dislike her, he didn't do it in the end though did he? Gin will always stop him somehow!!!**


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

A whole month had passed since the Weasley brothers had left Ginny and Hermione in Grimmauld Place and the younger witch was beginning to panic about the lack of change in Hermione's condition, she was still as healthy as she could be but would not wake up, Ginny had even taking to making loud noises around her and yelling at her to wake up but she wouldn't. One evening she was staring into the fire in Hermione's room, talking gently to her about nothing in particular when she heard the alerts go off to tell her someone had entered the house, only two other people could do that without being invited in, Harry and Charlie. She rushed steadily to the top of the stairs where she heard the voices of her two brothers calling to her, "Ginny, Hermione where are you?" Ginny walked down the stairs as quickly as she could in her current condition and halted at the sight which met her at the bottom of the stairs, between the two men being propped up by each of their arms was a tired looking man with sallow skin and hollow cheeks, he looked familiar and with a gasp Ginny realised that they had found Abery,

"He's in a bad way Gin, can you help him?" Charlie asked.

"Bring him upstairs and we'll put him in a bed," she called, the two Weasleys brought the drawn looking man with them as they climbed the stairs to the second floor where the younger Weasley led them into an unused bedroom. They laid him down on the bed and Ginny went about checking his vital signs, his heartbeat was weak and he had shallow breathing but he was alive and awake. His body was obviously extremely malnourished and he was in desperate need of water, "Get me some water from the kitchen, he's extremely dehydrated and I'll need to make him a nourishment potion too, but he'll live." The two men seemed to sag with relief and the elder one went to get the water. Ron helped her to get Abery comfortably into the bed where she made sure he was comfortable and warm, she let Charlie drip feed him water which he took gratefully while Ginny mixed him a nourishment potion she approached the bed with it and the young man took it gratefully, finishing the full glass he thanked his nurse in a barely audible voice before falling asleep, "How did you find him? Did he come out of the wards?" Ginny asked as she motioned for them to stand away from the bed and let him rest.

"We waited all month for him, like Ron's patronus said the wand led us straight to him within a few hours and by doing a complete circle around the area with the wand pointing inwards we were able to determine that he was hidden by some kind of charms. We waited and waited every day, taking it in turns to keep watch through the night in case he decided to come out undercover, one of us was always looking out for him if the other needed to find wood or food but we were almost ready to give up when Ron saw something, he crawled out slowly through the wards in the state we just brought him to you, he was obviously desperate for water or food, or something. We saw him and realised he needed help so we brought him back here and…" he gestured to the man now sleeping peacefully in the bed.

"We should leave him," Ginny suggested, "He should be fine with enough rest and plenty of nourishing potions and then we can talk to him about what happened. I don't think he'll be strong enough for a while though, the Ministry are going to have a lot to answer to when we get to the bottom of this, why would he need to be hiding out under protective wards? Something must have stopped him from coming back on his own."

"I know," Charlie continued as they left the room and Ginny softly closed the door, they stood in the landing to continue their conversation, "There was no one else there, in the month we were watching nobody else came to find him or make sure he was still there and we did not see any of the wizards from the folder either so he couldn't have been hiding from them."

"Well like I said, when he's strong enough he can share his story until then I will do everything I can to help him and make him well again."

"Gin," Ron finally asked hesitantly, "Where's Hermione?" she had been dreading the question ever since she had heard his voice in the hallway but had been momentarily distracted by the situation she was presented with, now she looked into the fearful eyes of her closest brother, "She…she still hasn't woken up Ron, I'm sorry," he looked horror struck at her words and she continued to try and make him feel a little better, "She's fine physically, her heartbeat is regular as is her breathing and all her organs are functioning properly, Luna brought me a brain scanner from the hospital and everything is fine there too, she just doesn't want to wake up." Ron looked at her and worry frowns began to etch across his face, turning quickly he left them and walked across the landing to the room where he had left his wife a month ago, taking a seat by the bed he kissed his wife tenderly on the forehead and settled down into the chair by her side taking up the exact position he had left the previous month. Ginny knew he would wait there now for as long as it took and she did not disturb him again, she and Charlie made their way down to the kitchen where he filled her in on all the details of their wait for Abery to show up, including the month of Ron's snoring that he had had to endure again.

It was almost two o clock in the morning when Ginny and Charlie decided to go to bed, they had talked about Hermione and the lack of change in her condition and she had also filled in her elder sibling on the events that had taken place while they had been away. He seemed to agree with her decision to tell Neville and Luna about what they were doing but was not as happy with her decision to meet up with Dean Thomas on her own, "I wasn't on a date or anything," she placated, "I'm not going to cheat on Harry, you don't have to worry about him."

"It's not Harry I'm worried about, it's you."

"What do you mean?" she asked curiously.

"Ginny, you are an attractive, young woman and to the rest of the wizarding world you are a widow who is carrying the child of a very powerful wizard-"

"But I wouldn't, I...I couldn't even if Harry was…" she drifted off still unable to say the word which filled her heart with dread.

"I know you wouldn't Ginny, but it's been a few months now since they think Harry died and as I said you are young and attractive, people are bound to be interested in you, and I am sure there are lots of men out there who want to look after you, and your baby, just be careful okay?" She smiled at him softly glad that he cared so much about her, "I will be, but I don't think Dean is thinking like that, he's just an old friend of both mine and Harry's, besides it was good to have some company for a while, I mean I am so grateful that you are helping me the way all of you are, but you are away for so long and I need to have some company you know. I miss Harry so much and I would give anything in the world to have him back here with me now but I can't shut myself up in this house until we find him, it won't mean I love him or miss him any less and plus I think Hermione was right, people are going to get suspicious if I don't start to show my face again soon." She smiled at him with a lost and lonely look on her face and he rose to give her a hug, she started to sob a little again and he held her tight, "I know Gin and you're right, just be careful, and remember if you get any attention that you don't want there are five Weasley boys that are willing to stick up for Harry in his absence!" His comment made her chuckle and she wiped the tears from her eyes, "Mind you having said all that Skeeter had a field day when she found out I had been out with Dean!"

"What do you mean?" he asked and she rose from the table to pick up a copy of the daily prophet from the dresser which she handed to Charlie with a bemused look on her face, looking back at her curiously he unfolded the paper and stared down at a headline on the front page. _WIDOW POTTER A-TEMPTS NEW LOVE _he looked up to see a broad grin still on her face and she gestured for him to continue reading.

_Well readers it's what we've all been waiting for, it appears that barely four months after finding out that her husband was killed while on duty for another country's Ministry the plain looking Mrs Harry Potter is now trying to tempt some other poor, unwitting man with her love charms and potions. Yes indeed a pregnant Mrs Potter was spotted by none other than yours truly yesterday lunchtime in the Leaky Cauldron with a young man named Dean Thomas. My usual reliable sources have discovered that the man in question is actually an ex boyfriend of Mrs Potter from their school days at Hogwarts. While she has been closeted away in her secret home since the announcement of Harry's death we have all been assuming that she was wallowing in grief at losing the man she had worked so hard to ensnare, but it seems, readers, that she was probably working on her next victim, which leads us to ask what would her poor dead husband have made of her quick ability to move on? Especially as she is obviously around four months pregnant. Of course this avid reporter, entrusted to reveal the truth about our poor lost hero, must also ask the question is the young life inside her that of her deceased husband at all? Ministry insiders have confirmed that he left the country five months ago, so it is either a very small baby (would any child of Harry's be that small?) or the baby is not in fact that of her deceased husband. Well stay tuned readers, as official reporter on the birth of the possible Potter offspring rest assured that I will be letting you all know straight away if indeed the child is a Potter or a Thomas?_

He threw the paper across the room as his face turned puce with anger, "That is exactly what I mean Ginny, what right does she have to say those things about you? As if you would...As if the baby is not...I mean it's...it's...outrageous."

"Charlie I don't care, no one believes the rubbish she writes anyway, well no one that matters to me. All I care about is finding Harry and getting him back home to his baby, Skeeter will be proved wrong eventually and until then she can write whatever she wants, I'm still going to make sure Xenophillius has the first Harry interview! Besides if she's writing twaddle like this then what Hermione wanted is working."

"Huh?" Charlie asked.

"She wanted people to know I was getting out and about so they wouldn't become suspicious about our absence from the wizarding world."

"Well I suppose..." he sadi reluctantly, "Just be careful that's all, I'm still not happy about all this stuff being said about you."

"Yeah you should have seen Mum, I don't think she's been that angry since Ron and Harry flew Dad's car to Hogwarts! She was all ready to curse Skeeter into oblivion but Dad managed to calm her down eventually! Anyway I'm off to check on my patients before I go to bed."

"Off you go then Healer Potter!"

Walking into the bedroom the first thing Ginny saw was Ron's head laid asleep on the bed, he was still sat on the chair holding Hermione's hand in his, she crossed to the blanket box near the high window and took out a soft, fleecy blanket to cover Ron with, as she turned back to him she gasped suddenly. Hermione's eyelids were fluttering ever so slightly and she heard a soft moan escape from her lips, dropping the blanket on the floor she rushed to the other side of the bed and took the girl's free hand in her own, "Hermione? Are you awake? Can you hear me? Ron!" she said raising her voice, "Ron wake up!"

"Huh?" he said sleepily lifting his head and trying to work out where he was, "Ron I think she's waking up," the information hit him like a blast of cold air and he sat bolt upright in the seat looking at the softly fluttering eyes of his wife, gripping her hand in his tightly he whispered, "Hermione, it's me, Ron, your husband."

"Know… you…are," she whispered barely audibly and he began to weep, Ginny rushed to the door and called for Charlie who came bounding up the stairs from the kitchen, "She's awake!" Ginny shrieked as he appeared in front of her, they both rushed back into the room and looked at the dazed looking girl who was struggling to lift up her eyelids while Ron continued to talk to her and stroke her arm.

"Have…you…been…yet?" she asked slowly, Ginny rolled her eyes, trust Hermione to think of the mission when she was barely awake yet.

"Yes, we went to Romania, we found him," Ron assured her.

"What…what…happened?"

"There's plenty of time to tell you about that when you're more awake, you should rest, but oh Hermione I'm so glad to see your beautiful eyes again." He leaned over and kissed her gently on the forehead and he glimpsed the briefest of smiles flash across her face as she whispered, "Nice."

"Hey, Sleeping Beauty," Charlie chuckled as he approached the bed and looked down at his sister in law, "You had us quite worried there for a while."

"How long...have...I been...out?" she asked, the two men looked at Ginny to see if they should tell her how long it had really been so she took over the conversation. "A month," she answered softly.

"That…long? Feels…less."

"It will for you, you were sleeping, we were the ones sat here worrying," she chuckled. "And it's not over yet, you'll need to stay resting for a while longer." Hermione nodded her head slowly, "When…did…you…come…back?" she directed at her beaming husband.

"Only today, it took us a while to actually find him even when we knew where he was, but we brought him back tonight, you've been out the whole time."

"I think she was just waiting for you to come back to her brother dear," Charlie joked.

"Shut up Charlie," he retorted blushing furiously while Ginny giggled and Hermione managed to smile slightly, "True," she whispered lifting her hand and dropping it on top of her husband's. He lifted it up and kissed it gently still staring deeply into her eyes.

"Come on Charlie, let's leave these two to it, I'm certainly ready for bed now!" Closing the door behind them Ginny smiled wryly to herself and wondered how long it would be before she was having the same kind of conversation with the love of her life, she missed him so much sometimes that the pain was almost unbearable and though she was happy for her brother and Hermione to be reunited she couldn't help feeling a small pang of jealousy. On the other side of the door Ron stroked the hair back from Hermione's forehead and gazed into her eyes, she kept closing them as she was obviously tired still but he didn't mind, he was just relieved that she was alright, when Ginny had said that she was still sleeping his heart had filled with dread and he had spent the evening trying to picture his life without her, he had realised immediately that it would not be worth living if she was not there at his side. "I missed you so much," he whispered gently and a brief smile formed on her lips. "Lay...with..me," she exhaled with much effort, "Shh," he whispered, "You're tired, just rest, I'll be here in the chair if you need me."

"No..." she breathed, "Here," she patted the bed next to her gently, "Please." Her eyes lit up a little at her request and he could not refuse her, gently lifting the bedcovers he slipped in next to her careful to make sure she still had plenty of room and laid his head on the pillow next to her, laying on his side he took her hand in his and looked at her lovingly, rubbing his thumb gently over the back of her hand.

"Love...you," she whispered before her breathing became even and Ron realised she was going back to sleep, lifting himself up to kiss her forehead he whispered, "I love you too," he glimpsed the briefest of smiles on her lips again before she dropped into another deep sleep, but this time he knew she would wake up in the morning and he would have his Hermione back.

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Another week had passed for Dudley in the small shack which was beginning to get colder and colder as the days went on, he found it strange as he thought it was the beginning of summer and it was making him become more and more suspicious of the young girl who appeared to be helping him. He was still losing little bits of his memory particularly of the point shortly before he went to sleep and was desperately trying to find a way to convince Annala that he did not need to take the potion anymore, which is what he was convinced of was making him lose more of his memory. He was also struggling to perform simple spells with the wand that Annala was adamant was his even though he felt totally unconnected to it, he had tried to find the connection each time he used it but he was certain that the wand did not belong to him.

He had had more dreams about the beautiful eyes and a face was beginning to form in front of him the more he dreamt about her, although it was still indistinct he could see freckles now which accompanied the red hair and each time he saw it he felt warm and comfortable. He was still getting nowhere with his own memory, Annala had made a trip to the Romanian Ministry but it had been completely fruitless, she had told him that they had run a check on his name and papers and not been able to locate a Dudley Dursley among any of their British records, they had apparently told her that they would send the papers through to the British Ministry and she should return a week later to see if they had found anything out. He was waiting for her to come back from her return visit and hoped that she would bring something useful back for him, he was still exercising his knee throughout the day when Annala was not around but it did not seem to be getting much stronger, he could still only stand on it for a few seconds before it buckled and his frustration was increasing which was making him become angrier with himself.

"Dudley," called Annala's voice from the front door, it slammed behind her and he noticed there was a tinge of anxiety in her call. She walked into the bedroom and saw him sitting on the bed, she kept her back to the wall and edged her way along it looking nervous, "How…h…how are y..you f…f…feeling?" she stuttered, Dudley found her demeanour strange and confusing.

"I'm fine, what's the matter with you? What did they say at the Ministry?"

"W…what? Er…Oh…yes the…the Ministry, I…er I…"

"Annala what's the matter, did something happen while you were there?"

"No...no it's just that…it's just…what they…they told me…a…about…you," she looked down at her feet and twisted anxiously on them.

"What is it?" he asked becoming a little fractious himself, "What did they tell you?"

"You…you...t...t...murdered someone," Dudley's mouth dropped open in horror, murder? He was a murderer? He didn't feel that he would ever be capable of doing such a dreadful thing to another human being. "I…I can't be, I wouldn't…"

"They said you were wanted by the British Ministry for torturing someone into insanity and murdering another," her eyes were wide and she appeared scared out of her wits, he felt as shocked as she appeared to be but also desperate to calm her down.

"Do you think I would hurt you Annala?" he asked tentatively, "You have done so much for me, I…I don't know what to say but please don't be afraid of me, I wouldn't want to hurt you, or anyone for that matter, not now anyway." He went quiet and Annala slipped back out of the room, Dudley was looking down at his hands in his lap and did not see the sly smile which crossed her face as she closed the bedroom door behind her. He laid his huge frame back on the bed and played the information she had given him over and over in his head, torture, murder? Could he really kill or torture someone into insanity? Those eyes, he thought suddenly, those deep and pain filled eyes, had he caused that? Had he…? He shook the thought from his head, he couldn't have murdered or tortured someone he was sure, there had to be some mistake.

An hour later Annala came to help him into the other room for dinner, he sat at the single hard wooden table and waited for her to bring his food, she seemed jumpy around him and he began to feel guilty for putting her in this position, "Maybe I should leave," he suggested and she stopped what she was doing staring at him wildly and shaking her head, "No," she replied forcefully, "I can, I can hide you, you'll be safe here, you must have been running and trying to get in with those wizards, but if you go back out there they will find you, the Ministry have people searching from hundreds of countries, they'll find you and then…" she drifted off and stared out of the window "I don't want you to leave Dudley, I..." she stopped and did not continue.

He thought for a while before deciding, "I'll stay until I can walk again, then I will leave you in peace," she looked at him but did not make any sign of agreeing or disagreeing with him. It was a few minutes before she spoke, "I...I am not scared of you Dudley, I was shocked but the person I have cared for and got to know is not a person who could do such a thing, I...I want to protect you Dudley, you are a special person and I feel somehow connected to you after caring for you for so long," she moved closer to him, "I," she looked at the floor as she continued but put her hand over his which was resting on the table in front of him, "I feel close to you and I don't want to lose you, if you go something could happen to you, stay here, let me hide you and take care of you."

She stared into his eyes pleading with her own and trying to find something in his which would show that he might think of her in a different way. The longer she had been around Harry the more she had fallen for him, after she had calmed down and reasoned with herself about the night she had used the imperius curse on him she had realised just how deep her feelings for this vulnerable young man ran. Trying to force him into sleeping with her had been a stupid idea but when she had realised she would have to pretend to visit the Ministry and find out his back story she had decided that she might be able to use his own faked story against him. The parchment naming him as Dudley Dursley had been among the other documents he had carried in his robes when they had first brought him to her, she had hidden it with his wand and the strange metal object in a kitchen cupboard out of his reach, the night before she had added a little more to the list of his crimes, including labelling him as a murderer, leaving the table she went to find it and brought it back to him.

"They gave me this, and told me if I saw you again I was to let thim know immediately, I told them that you had gone when they showed me this, I didn't want them to follow me and find you here." She handed the parchment to him pretending that she was doing it reluctantly and he gazed down at a picture of himself looking menacing, the word 'wanted' was plastered across the page in large, bold letters and an explanation of his crimes was listed below it. "I can't..." he was unable to form any more words and Annala took the opportunity to move closer to him, placing her hand on his shoulder and rubbing it softly she whispered, "Please let me protect you, stay here and we will work it out together." Dudley looked up gratefully at the young woman, all ideas that she had been hindering his progress with the potions had gone, she still wanted to look after him after discovering this heinous crime he was accused of, could she be that bad? He began to find the rubbing on his shoulder comforting and he allowed her to move both hands down his arms as he stared at the picture again, she moved round to stand in front of him and bent down to kiss his forehead, he did not react to the gesture as he was still caught up in the parchment which now proved what he was sure had been a mistake.

"Let's eat," she said turning her head away so he would not see the small triumphant smile on her face, he had finally allowed her to touch him and she realised it would only be a matter of time before she had him right where she wanted him. They ate in silence and at the end of the meal when she brought out the potion again he took it without complaint and allowed her to help him back to bed where he slept fitfully again, once more dreaming of drowning in the beautiful chocolate eyes, those pain filled ones which he was now convincing himself were like that because of him.


	17. Chapter 17

**Thanks again reviewers, but I'm afraid I'm saying nothing about _if _or _when_ Harry's memory returns, there's a few other things to happen first, so if you really can't stand it then I'm sorry, but the story will be over otherwise and I haven't done all I want to yet, sorry! Maybe this chapter will shed some light on why he lost his memory. **

Chapter 17

It took Abery another two weeks of recuperating before he was fit enough to talk to them all, he had woken for a short while each day and Ginny had insistently given him the nourishment potion every time, explaining that it would speed his recovery. Hermione had improved drastically over the same period of time too, she was up and out of bed within a few days of waking up but she tired easily and had to take regular naps throughout the day, Ron barely left her side and as they had no more to go on until Abery was fit enough to talk to them, the search for Harry had been put on hiatus. Ginny was somewhat frustrated at the lack of movement but knew Abery would not be able to help them until he was fit, and making him well again had become her primary concern.

Finally the previous evening when she had brought him another dose of potion he had asked her who she was and where he had been brought to, "I'm Ginny Potter," she had replied, "And this is Harry's house." He had looked her in the eyes at that moment and seemed to see all the pain and misery she was suffering from, as she busied about the room he watched her before saying in a quiet and tentative voice, "They took him." She had stopped and stared at him for a moment, unable to say anything in response, she had waited for months to hear this and needed some time to process the actual words, who were they? Where had they taken him? Did this truly mean that he was alive? "Can...can you tell us what happened, if you are fit enough?" she had asked, looking at him with anguished eyes, he had nodded at her and whispered, "Tomorrow, if that's alright?"

Relief had washed over her face, finally she felt like they might get closer to finding the man she longed to hold in her arms, everything they had done so far had been to that end but the primary search had ended up being for this man sat in front of her, she was now desperate to get on and find the man she really wanted. He had fallen asleep shortly after the conversation and Ginny had joined the others in the kitchen telling them immediately that Abery was ready to speak, they too had been eager to get some information from the auror and felt relieved that they were finally going to do that. And so, nearly six months after his initial disapperance here they all were sitting in the kitchen at Grimmauld Place waiting for Abery to speak.

Ginny had helped him down the stairs as he was still weak, his body had made an excellent recovery from the malnutrition and dehydration but he would still need time to build up his physical strength again. The move from his bedroom took the breath from him and when she seated him in the armchair by the fire Ginny was worried that he may not be up to telling his story, "Are you sure you can do this?" she asked kindly, "It can wait until you are stronger." Abery shook his head slowly taking a minute to catch his breath before he said, "No, you need to know, I can see that, you have done a great thing for me, I need to repay you now." Ginny smiled at the kind man who could see how desperate she was for information and was prepared to give that to her, even though ,she could tell, it was going to be a struggle. She wrapped a blanket around him and brought a glass of water to the stool by his chair insisting that he take a minute when he needed to and regularly drank sips from the glass. Charlie, Ron and Hermione were waiting eagerly at the kitchen table ready to listen to the man's story and hoping it would shed some light for them, they too were worried about Abery's health but were also afraid that Ginny would not be able to go on much longer if she did not find out something soon.

"Can you tell us what happened?" Charlie eventually asked, softly and the weak looking man took a deep breath before beginning his story. "Everything was going well, Harry and I had been accepted by them all and we had discovered that they were going to hold a demonstration through the village, torturing muggles and burning down buildings and houses. We had collected a file on all of them, pictures, information everything and this was the final bit of evidence that we needed, we were ready to go to the Romanian Ministry with everything. After attending a meeting with the wizards who had told us when the demonstration was to take place, Harry and I went back to the shack and Croft was there, he said the others had gone to the Ministry with all the information we had collected so far and that the other Romanian aurors would be coming soon, we were to wait in the shack until nightfall and help them to round up the wizards before the demonstration began."

He paused and the others waited patiently for him to continue, nobody wanted to rush him as they wanted to know every thing about what had happened to them, but most of all Ginny was desperate to find out what had happened to her husband. He took a drink from the glass and looked up at the generous people who had saved his life before continuing with the story they were listening to avidly. "The evening came and we were still waiting for them to come back, eventually we heard screams coming from the direction of the village as we looked down through the window we could see the flames licking the sky, Harry rushed for the door with his wand but it burst open at the same time and in came a few of the dark wizards holding the two Romanian aurors, Bavar and Kirov, ahead of them, they were laughing heartily. We looked at each other and then at Croft who was laughing along with them, he was a double agent, he had been passing information to them all along about what the British and Romanian Ministries were doing to try and stop them."

His audience nodded at him to show that they knew that already but allowed him to continue, "I aimed at one of them and threw an auror curse to disarm and tie them up but it missed and Croft grabbed my wand casting it aside and sending me behind the bed where I hit the wall then he aimed 'petrificus totalus' at me and I was paralysed, my limbs locked together and all I could do was watch. Harry tried to fight back, curses were flying everywhere between him and them but he was being overpowered, Kirov and Bavar had been hit by Croft with the binding and disarming spell I had tried and were unable to help Harry at all and more and more of them were entering the room as all of it went on. Then their leader came into the room, Cortinus Lestrange, we had not found out anything about him at that point, we knew there was someone heading up the group and ordering all the terrible things that they were doing but no one had mentioned a name. He was the only person who we had not created a file page on, of course Croft must have known all along because when he entered he bowed lowand Cortinus nodded hos approval at him," Ginny had gasped at the mention of Lestrange's name, they had, of course, not seen it in the file they had taken from Harry's office. Abery noticed the gasp and realised why it had had such an effect, he remembered that Cortinus' brother, Rodolphus Lestrange, had been the one to kidnap the young woman shortly before her wedding to Harry.

He paused for a moment to allow her to recover and took the opportunity to catch his breath again and take another sip of water, then he looked up at Ginny who was waiting patiently for him to continue. "Lestrange strode into the room glaring around at the scene in front of him, Harry had so far managed to evade all the curses thrown at him but he had been caught off guard by the arrival of a fourth wizard and Croft had bound him with 'incarcerus'. Lestrange began to cackle, 'Harry Potter, of all the people trying to thwart my attempts at a dark take over,' One of them had then stepped over to him and held him around the neck, swiping his wand and stowing it inside his robes before casting spells at all the others in the room, they didn't care who got hit, in fact they killed two of their own with the killing curse along with the Romanian aurors who had been working with us. Lestrange had not seen me when he entered the room as I was hidden around the beds and I assume Croft had forgotten about me, but I wasn't on their minds, he had who he wanted so he didn't care, Harry struggled against them but without his wand he was stuck. The one who was holding him shouted, 'Shall I kill him?' but Lestrange growled at him, 'Are you stupid? He's a powerful wizard we can use him, obliviate his memory and we will convince him that he is one of us, with his power we will be unstoppable'."

Abery paused to look up at the young woman to whom he was directing his story, Ginny's mouth had gaped open and Hermione had left her own seat to stand behind the weakened looking girl, she rubbed her shoulders gently as Ginny asked, "They wanted to obliviate his memory?" Tears began to cloud her eyes, had her husband, the love of her life had his memory wiped out? She had worked with people that it had happened to on the closed ward at St Mungos, if the spell was done correctly it was irreversible, "Did they do it?" she sobbed and dropped her face into her hands. Ron came to her other side and held her hand tightly trying to channel all his emotion into helping the poor girl in front of him, he too could not bare to think that Harry had had all of his memory wiped, he would not remember him if he had, or any of the things they had done together throughout their long friendship, it was unthinkable.

"I don't know, they were gone before I knew it, they set the shack on fire and burned them all, the curse on me wore off as they left the shack and I managed to grab my wand and crawl out just in time, I made it to the shed outside where I waited for our aurors to turn up. My leg was bruised but not broken and I set it as best I could while I waited, there was more going on around us and I knew there were no aurors out there to help, I had no idea where they had taken Harry either. I woke up a couple of days later and heard the British aurors moving around the shack, I was going to call out when I heard them mention my name so I listened, 'No where to be found,' they said, 'Croft he was a double agent working for them, we can't let the Minister find out about this, we'll say that this is his body, the other two they belong to the Romanian aurors and this one must be Harry's, it is the same build as the persona he had taken on and I'm sure he would not revert back on death, this was new magic I know but I'm sure he wouldn't. I'm sorry to lose such a talented auror but if his death helps to cover up this stupid mistake then it is a small loss.' I couldn't believe he had said such a thing so I waited a little longer and they mentioned me again I heard Drindle, it was he who had been talking about Harry, he said that if they found me they were to modify my memory and if I tried to struggle then to kill me, under no circumstances was anyone to find out about the botched mission or the cover up.

I stayed hidden where I was, the shed wasn't clearly visible from the shack and I hoped they would not spot me, they were obviously in a hurry to clear everything up. Eventually they left and I managed to crawl away towards the woods, I left my wand because I was not thinking clearly when I left and I dared not go back in case they returned and found me, I set up the wards around the area you found me to protect myself using auror charms that do not require wands, and I made a small shelter inside, I didn't know what to do, I was afraid to try and return for my wand, or to England for that matter and as the days passed and I became weaker and weaker I began to lose my resolve. One day I heard you moving around and I thought it was them, the Ministry, so I stayed hidden until I was sure you had gone, then I crawled out, desperate for food or water, that's when you found me."

"And thank Merlin they did," Ginny interrupted, "You would not have survived much longer Abery."

"I am grateful to you all for bringing me back, I had no where left to turn, no where I thought would be safe."

"We should be thanking you, because of you we now know what happened to Harry, we never believed that he was dead, even though the Ministry and the Prophet have claimed it to be true, that is just what they were hoping, or at least Drindle was it does sound as if Kingsley Shaklebolt never knew about the cover up."

"We should tell him," Abery offered, "I will tell him the truth –"

"Not yet," Ginny interupted, "You are still weak and need to recover, we should also see your family first and explain everything to them too, I am sure they have been as worried about you as we have about Harry."

"Well at least we know what happened to Harry at last." Hermione said in her efficient way, "We just need to decide where to go next."

"The Ministry," Ron blurted, "If they know the truth they can start looking for Harry, they have many more resources at their disposal to help and you know Kingsley will put his best men on the job."

"No," Ginny shouted and all heads turned to look at her, confusion on their faces. "The Ministry abandoned him without question, they knew that body could have been one of the other and not Harry but they chose to believe and even hope that it was, they gave up just like that so their stupid mistake could be hidden away. What makes you think they won't find a way to cover this up too? You heard Abery they were going to wipe his memory if they found him they could do the same thing to us."

"I'd like to see them try," Ron interjected.

"But they could," Ginny continued, "If they are so desperate to cover this mistake then they might go to any lengths necessary."

"But Kingsley wouldn't, he would be outraged at this Gin, he loved and respected Harry and would not stand for it, we should go straight to him and explain what we have discovered."

"No Ron, we have got this far without him and we can find Harry without him too, I don't know how yet but we will, I want to go to the Ministry when I have my husband by my side again, they will not try to modify or obliterate his memory, they would not dare, especially as you said because of Kingsley's respect for him, but us? We may not be that lucky. I know that they may be able to do it faster than we could and you know I would give almost anything to have him back soon but I don't trust them Ron...and if they did find him and his memory had been..." she paused and looked down willing the tears, which were threatening to overflow from her eyes, to stay where they were, she could hardly bare to contemplate that his memory had been wiped but she forced herself to continue, "Then they could do whatever they liked, if we find him then we might be able to do something to...I don't know, I just...just..." she looked imploringly at her brothers and the tears began to fall like a torrent down her face, Charlie pulled her into his arms and rocked her while Ron put his own arms around Hermione, who had broken down at the same moment. The two Weasley men were trying not to let their own composure fall at this dreadful news focusing their energies on the crying girls was the only thing keeping their own grief at bay.

"Ginny," Charlie crooned softly, "We don't know that the spell was performed, and even if it was it may not have been done correctly, obliviate is a difficult spell to master, it can be said and performed easily but that does not mean the effects are permanent. There is a good chance that it may not have worked successfully or in fact at all, do not give up hope yet." The weeping girl nodded her head against his chest and lifted it to look at Abery who was sitting uncomfortably in the chair by the fire, feeling that he was intruding on the family's grief.

"The Ministry said that he was transfigured when it happened, what did he look like? And can it be removed?" Ginny asked tentatively, worried about what the answer would be.

"He was a bulky man, tall with blonde hair, he had a piggish face with a stupid look to it, and yes it can be removed but only by the people involved in casting it, I was one of them so if you find him I will be able to remove it."

"Thank you Abery," she said wiping her eyes and trying to smile at the man who had filled her in on the fate of her husband.

"It is I who should be thanking you, you have all saved my life and I am just sorry that I could not give you happier news, I feel for you Mrs Potter, Harry is a good man and a good auror and I assume he did not know that he was going to be a father?" he gestured towards her stomach and she patted it absentmindedly as she shook her head.

"No, but he will," Hermione interupted wiping the tears from her own eyes and going into organisation mode, "Right I am off to the library to read and think about what to do next, Ron?" she asked and he nodded his head to show that he would join her.

"You should go back to bed Abery," Ginny muttered, "You look tired and you need your rest."

"Thank you Mrs Potter, and once again, I am sorry about Harry." She nodded her thanks and then Charlie helped the weakened auror back to his bedroom while Ginny sat alone in the kitchen staring into the fire without seeing the flames.

That night she laid in her bed alone, softly stroking her stomach which seemed to be swelling more and more with each passing day, she was now more than six months pregnant and she barely noticed the odd gentle kicks, she was staring at the picture of her and Harry at their wedding again and her heart was aching almost unbearably, she kept thinking over and over what Abery had told them, they were going to wipe Harry's memory, they probably already had. Her husband, the love of her life, the man she felt she had spent her whole life waiting for, would have no recollection at all about her, or their marriage, or even their time together. She sobbed into her pillow as she realised that he would never even remember the night they had made the baby now growing inside of her, however rough and lust filled it had been it was their deep passion for each other which had fuelled it, and Harry would not know or remember that passion. Would he even be able to feel it for her again if they did find him and she reintroduced herself to him? She could not even begin to imagine what it would be like to have her memory wiped and then be presented with a wife and family, would he be scared? Would he leave her? And if he did could she blame him? She would be devastated and her life would be over but maybe Harry's life already was, or at least the one he once knew was over.

She sobbed into the pillow so hard that she almost felt the pain physically, why had life been so cruel to them? They had had a flash of happiness and now it could be gone forever. Ginny cried herself to sleep and when she woke the next morning the truth hit her again with a force that almost knocked the life out of her, Hermione found her still sobbing in bed when she searched her out in the late morning, the older witch sat with her stroking her back and trying to soothe her for another hour before finally persuading her to leave the room and join the rest of them in the kitchen. She and Ron were both worried about her and also deeply troubled themselves by the news they had received the previous day, they felt much the same as Ginny did about Harry's loss of memory as all the times they had shared together would be gone too and she was as acutely aware as Ginny was that if the spell was performed correctly there would be no reversing it.

Ron left the room after they had eaten lunch, which Ginny had reluctantly taken from Hermione and forced down for the sake of her baby rather than herself, so Hermione took the opportunity of being alone again to try and talk to the younger girl. She sat with her in a chair by the fire and softly stroked Ginny's hand, the younger girl seemed to have deflated completely since Abery had told his story and Hermione was unsure of how to start talking to her but the desperately sad girl saved her by saying, "He won't remember me Hermione and he won't love me anymore." Hermione continued to stroke her hand as she carried on, "Even if we find him and bring him back he won't love me anymore, I don't know if I can cope with that Hermione, to have him in my life but thinking of me as a stranger and not his soulmate. Even if we spend time together and I show him how much I love him he may not return it, he will be a different person and..." Tears slipped down her face and Hermione moved over to stroke her back gently, "And the baby, will he be able to love it? If he doesn't love me will he feel a connection to it?"

She didn't know how to respond to the sobbing girl in her arms, Hermione could not imagine what it would be like to lose your memory but it must be just as hard to have your loved one lose their memory and their love because of that. She too had spent much of the night worrying about Harry's memory, they would be able to share their stories with him of their time together as friends but would it ever be the same? They had been through many things together as the golden trio and though she knew they would always be there for him no matter what, it would still break her heart that he would not remember their past. They sat for a few minutes staring at the fire before a thought struck Hermione like a lightening bolt and she gasped loudly, "Gin!"

"What," the younger witch asked morosely.

"Your necklace, it still glows," the younger witch reached up her hand to touch the stone still residing by her throat, "He must still love you, even if he can't remember you yet, you must still be there because his love is still there, the spell can't have been performed properly if it has been at all, his memories will only be hidden and not gone." Ginny began to fiddle with the shining golden rock on the chain around her neck. "He still loves you Ginny, don't lose faith yet please for both your sakes, I'm not sure what we can do next but we won't give up and I believe that he will remember you, Ginny I have never known a love like yours, he'll remember you I'm sure. " A small smile formed on Ginny's lips and Hermione saw a slight sign of hope returning to her eyes just as her older brother came back into the kitchen. "I'm going to the library to see what I can find about memory charms, but Gin I am so sure about this, his love is still there so his memory must be!" She jumped up and left a slightly happier looking Ginny by the fire, racing up to the library at double speed she almost collided with Ron who was making his way back to the kitchen, "Woah, Hermione slow down," he said catching her arms and steadying them both, "What's going on?"

"His memory, it can't be gone it's just hidden, the stone its..." she stopped, remembering that no one was meant to know about it and Ron looked at her curiously, "What stone? What do you mean his memory is hidden?"

"I...er...I just think that...it can't be...it's just hidden, I...the library, go and see Ginny," and with that she charged away up the stairs leaving a very confused looking Ron in the middle of the stairway.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Dudley had now lost all track of the number of days, weeks or even months that he had been living in the shack with Annala, in truth he didn't care any more, he was still struggling to use his wand properly and his leg was still no better, he was angry all the time and he took it out on the young girl a lot but she took it without complaint and he was beginning to worry that it was because she was scared of him now that she had discovered the truth. However she was still patient and caring towards him and she was becoming more affectionate too, he took the potion each night without complaint now enjoying the peaceful night's sleep it afforded him. Though the dreams he had were still haunted by those mesmerising eyes he welcomed them even though he had now convinced himself that they were that way because of him, he tortured himself with that thought all day and night but still could not resist thinking about them and staring in to them in his dreams. He had worked out by the amount of daylight they received that Annala had lied to him somewhere along the lines about how long he had been with her, or when she had first found him, it was definitely heading towards winter now, but he had not questioned her about it yet, it didn't really matter to him any more. He was sitting on the bed in his room staring out of the window at the forest surrounding them, he had to admit they were obviously well hidden which was a good thing for him he mused, when the door creaked open and Annala appeared with a tray of breakfast for him.

"Why do you keep doing this?" he asked softly taking the tray and staring at the basic meal upon it.

"Because I want to," she replied sitting next to him on the bed and placing her hand on his knee, he didn't flinch at her touch anymore he was just amazed that she still wanted to do it after discovering what a cruel person he had been. She had touched him a lot since telling him about his past, only slight gentle ones on the shoulders, the arms or his knees, he had not particularly enjoyed it but rather felt indifferent as if it didn't really matter if she did it or not. She watched him as he ate in silence and then she collected the tray and placed it on a dresser in the corner of the room, returning to sit by him on the bed she replaced her hand further up his leg and smiled at him. He looked back at her cold grey eyes wishing they were the brown ones and tried to return the smile, "Dudley, you need to stop feeling like this, your past is a part of you, try to use it to find the rest of your memory instead of wallowing in it, there must have been something which made you do what you did, stop trying to punish yourself and accept it, I don't care it doesn't matter to me what you did."

She was starting to worry about him, the attachment she had developed to the memoryless young man in front of her was now much deeper than she had ever imagined it would become, she was desperate just to keep him here with her now but she also knew that Lestrange was growing tired of waiting for him, he needed the power that Harry could bring to their group and was planning to send in some of his men to talk him into joining them. Annala was not sure now that she wanted to lose him to their cause and so she had continued feeding him the potion which was actually hindering his knee in the hopes that they would leave him there with her to recouperate longer. She looked into his eyes again to see the lifeless ones glaring back from his sockets, reaching up to touch his cheek she smiled and tried to get him to return it but he just stared straight back at her again.

"Dudley, please," she pleaded and then leaned forwards ever so slowly to kiss him softly. At first he did not respond to her but then found himself returning the kiss, he did not enjoy the feeling or even feel that he wanted it but his mind kept telling him what did it matter anymore? He continued to kiss her for a few moments before he felt her fingers slide up his chest and begin to unbutton the nightshirt that he was still wearing, without really thinking about it he allowed her to remove it and run her hands up and down his bare chest and back before she began to unbutton the shirt she was wearing and discarding it by the bedside. She drew back and allowed him to look at her body, she had small breasts and a bony body which he did not find in the least bit attractive, she took his hands in her own and pulled them towards her, placing them on her cold and tiny waist, he was not interested in exploring her body so she moved his hands for him until they were resting upon her breast. She moaned softly and he began to feel a little aroused, her fingers quickly unfastened his trousers and she pulled them off kneeling between his legs as he sat on the bed looking at her, nothing but the bitterness of finding out what he had done was going through his mind and he felt a sudden urge to lose himself in this woman baring herself in front of him.

He started to feel angry, because he could not remember anything about himself, because he could not imagine that he had committed such a terrible crime, because his leg would not heal and because he was stuck in this little shack with this woman and he had no idea how much longer he would be here for. Annala removed the rest of her clothes so that they were both naked, he stared at her still not finding anything attractive about her but determined to lose himself if only for a short while. He pushed her backwards roughly onto the bare wooden floorboards and dropped himself onto the floor surprised that his knee did not hurt or even buckle when he rested on it some form of adrenaline must have been propelling it into action, Annala gasped at the coldness of the floorboards as Dudley prepared to thrust all his anger into her and she looked up at him willingly, longing to finally get what she wanted from the man who had been entrusted into her care.

But suddenly a flash of something crossed through Dudley's mind, a naked girl looking at him angrily from cold, bare floorboards in another room in another place, but this girl was not bony with small unattractive breasts, she was slim and well proportioned with creamy freckled skin and a warm and loving face, but most of all she had those eyes, they looked different to him now, they weren't filled with pain this time, they were full of anger and passion but somewhere behind all of that was a ray of love. He stopped at looked at what he was about to do, "Don't stop Dudley, please, I want you, you don't have to be afraid," but he continued to stare at the pleading young girl who's legs he was sat between.

"No," he said, "I'm sorry, this is wrong, it's not what I want," Dudley could not shake the image of the girl with the chocolate eyes again and knew that she was the only girl he wanted to be like this with, "I need..." what did he need? He wanted to be alone, he had had a glimpse of a memory, one involving that girl and suddenly he thought that maybe he wasn't the one who had caused all the pain he had first seen in them, he needed to think about it all and try and find something in his head. He dragged himself back up onto the bed and grabbed his nightshirt, "I'm sorry," he whispered again to Annala who was still laid on the floor staring at the man she wanted so much and who had almost given in to her. The wand she had used to put him under the imperious curse was within her reach and she contemplated doing it again before realising he would probably throw it off again now.

Sitting up slowly she grabbed her clothes and put them back on before leaving the room without saying a word. Dudley sat in the bed and played the image over again in his head, he had definitely been about to be intimate with whoever the beautiful girl was, for a second he thought he may have been forcing himself on her and he shuddered in horror, but then he remembered that love and passion had shone through the eyes and he was sure it had been for him, in fact he realised that he felt exactly the same way about her, whoever she was. All he had in his head was a handful of memories from this shack hovering in front of a large brick wall, but suddenly a small brick had been pushed out of it and he had peered through to see just this image. Suddenly Dudley realised that this had to be the beginning of his memories and no matter how painful and difficult it might be to remember them he knew at that moment that he needed to, he could not wallow in self pity any longer but had to start facing whatever his past was. The way to do that would be to strengthen his knee and get out of the shack with Annala, starting with refusing the potion which he felt was still hindering his progress, but had taken willingly for a while just to welcome that peaceful sleep.

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Ginny and Dean were sitting in a small booth in the Leaky Cauldron again each nursing a bottle of butterbeer and discussing the fun they had had at Hogwarts when they were teenagers. Dean had marvelled at how well she had looked when she flooed into the fireplace and she had scoffed at him saying that the pregnant glow was a load of rubbish it was just sweat from carrying around such a large lump all day long.

"So I'm sorry about what Skeeter wrote," Dean eventually offered looking guilty for having placed her in such a position.

"It wasn't your fault," she replied, "She's a sad, lonely woman who has nothing better to do than write rubbish about people, I found it rather amusing really though Charlie and Ron hit the roof!"

"What about your Mum?"

"Don't even ask," she chuckled looking up to the ceiling, "And by the way I never used love potions on Harry, but I might have used one or two on you!" she joked and he smiled at her once more remembering how much fun she was and wishing silently that life had given her an easier time.

"So any plans for Christmas?" he asked.

"Just the Burrow," Ginny replied looking wistful, it would be their anniversary a few days before Christmas and she was not going to be able to share it with Harry, "The family will be there, all of them, Mum will cook up a feast and I'm sure we'll try and have as much fun as we can," she continued looking a little downcast, "Oh Mum's having a tea on boxing day, she said to invite you along, Luna and Neville will be there and of course Ron and Hermione, you could catch up with them all! She said you should bring along anyone special too!" Dean blushed immediately and she apologised for having embarrassed him, the truth was that he did not have anyone special in his life at the moment and was starting to realise that the more time he spent with Ginny, the more he wanted to make her the special person though he dare not make a move on her, knowing she was still too attached to Harry and probably would be until she had had the baby.

"When are you due?" he asked.

"Mid January, so not long to go thank Merlin, to be honest I am sick of being pregnant now, my back aches constantly I need the toilet all the time, it's not a bed of roses and I'll be over the moon when he or she finally arrives!" He laughed at her and they enjoyed another hour of easy, comfortable conversation before Ginny made to leave again. He felt sad that she had to go as he had been enjoying himself and wanted to spend longer in her company.

"I...I don't suppose you are feeling up to attending a ball," he asked timidly and she looked up into his face, "No I'm sorry, it was wrong of me to ask, I just...well I have enjoyed sharing your company again and the Gringotts annual Christmas ball is coming up but being so far pregnant you are probably not in the mood, forget it."

"No Dean, thank you for asking, I'm sure if I take it easy and don't stay too late then I would be fine, I suppose a little Christmas fun would be good for us! " she gestured to her protruding stomach again. "Besides Charlie will be going so he can take care of me while you go off and have fun! When is it?"

"The day before Christmas Eve."

"I can't see a problem with that. Shall we meet here?"

"Sounds good to me," Dean replied trying to ignore the jumps he felt in his stomach at her acceptance. "Seven o clock?"

"Seven o clock," she repeated, "Oh I can hardly wait to see what Skeeter has to say!" they chuckled to each other as she rose from the table and Dean helped her to put on her cloak, he breathed in her flowery scent as he did so remembering how good it was but then checked himself again and returned to the other side of the table.

"So, the Burrow on Boxing Day," she said before making her way to the fireplace, "I'll tell Mum you accept shall I?" he nodded. She flooed away waving at the young man who was becoming more and more besotted with Ginny Potter the more time he spent with her.

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"I still don't like it Gin, it's not right what would Harry say?" Ron said as he looked at his sister, standing by the kitchen fireplace in a long, striking gold dress which had a high waist and lots of silky folds which covered the large bump she carried in front of her.

"He would say, 'It's Christmas Gin, go and have a good time,' I've not forgotten about him Ron, I've spent the last eight months laying in bed missing him and thinking about him every night and I'll be doing exactly the same thing tonight only maybe the twinkling lights and the soft music might give me a nicer place to wallow in, instead of my cold empty bed where I usually do it," tears pricked her eyes but she held them back and stared resolutely at Ron who felt as if he was shrinking under her gaze. Admittedly he tried not to think about what Ginny was really feeling especially at night but he felt she should be sat at home waiting for Harry night after night and had not realised how difficult this probably was. "He never leaves my mind Ron, and I can tell you I will not enjoy myself without him tonight but a change of scenery can't do me any more harm!" He nodded with embarrassment and added gently, "You...you look really nice!"

"Thank you," she said, her voice relaxing a little.

"My sentiments exactly," Charlie echoed as he entered the room in his dress robes, "Stop giving her grief Ron, let her have a bit of fun for a change! Are you ready my lady?" he chuckled offering her his arm and together they disappeared into the flames.

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"I'm sorry Dean," she said for the fourteenth time, "You go and dance with someone, it is your ball after all."

"Stop apologising, I'm fine here, I don't really do dancing anyway!" he guffawed as he watched a sad expression cross Ginny's face. She was thinking about the Healer's ball she had been to with Harry at Christmas a few years ago, they had danced the night away barely pausing to rest for more than five minutes. She had been surprised that Harry had wanted to dance so much as she had never known he was that interested in it before but when she'd questioned him about it he had said it was only because he was dancing with her.

"You're thinking about Harry aren't you?" Dean interrupted her thoughts and she nodded guiltily. "It must be hard being Christmas," he offered not sure what to say to a pregnant widow who was facing her first Christmas alone.

"Hmm," she breathed, "It was our wedding anniversary yesterday," she added and his heart went out to her, he was desperate to take the young girl in his arms and offer her the comfort that Harry could no longer give but he knew that she would not want it from him and so remained in his seat reaching out his hand instead and placing it over hers in sympathy.

"Come on," she said brightly, "I'm sure I can manage one slow dance." She rose from her seat and offered her hand to Dean, he followed her to the edge of the dance floor where he put one hand around her waist and took her hand in his other, slowly they danced round the edge of the parquet floor and a small smile returned to her lips. When the music ended it was clear that Ginny was tired and Dean took her back to her seat to sit with Charlie who had swapped around some name tags when they had arrived so he could keep an eye on the man escorting his sister. Charlie was still aware that Ginny was an attractive young widow to the rest of the world and for all that the boy seemed to have no ulterior motives he was still a little unnerved by the amount of time he was spending with her, even if it did stop any suspicions arising about the activities at Grimmauld Place.

By eleven o clock Ginny was practically asleep in her chair and Dean offered to take her home but Charlie insisted he do it as he was ready to return there himself, Ginny gave Dean a peck on the cheek and Charlie eyed the look on his face suspiciously but his sister did not notice. Then together they made their way to a free fireplace to floo back to Grimmauld Place and Charlie practically carried an exhausted Ginny to her bed where she fell asleep immediately with her hand curled protectively round her stomach. He stroked her hair and watched her peaceful face, this was the only time she did not have a shred of unhappiness shadowing her face as the knowledge of her missing husband was suspended from her thoughts for a few hours. They had tried to come up with new plans for finding Harry but seemed to have hit a brick wall ever since they had heard Abery's tale, no one knew which way to turn next and as Ginny was adamant they were not going to the Ministry all they could do was wait and try to think of the next move.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Annala still appeared at the end of each meal with a potion in her hand, but Dudley was beginning to get suspicious again, ever since the night he had almost slept with her and those lovely eyes had flashed before him with that memory, he had begun to suspect that everything was not right with his situation. He had looked for hours at the parchment showing him as a wanted wizard trying to locate anything in his brain but he kept coming up against the brick wall with the small hole in it, he was desperate to reach past it but no matter how much he tried he could not see any more than the flash of angry and passionate eyes. He still could not make a connection between himself and the crime he was supposed to have committed and he also still had that niggling feeling that he was somehow in the wrong skin, there was no connection whatsoever between him and his wand either and he was still struggling to cast a simple spell. He convinced himself more and more each day that the parchment was wrong, possibly even faked and that maybe Annala had something to do with it, and so was determined to gain strength in his knee as soon as possible.

He tried each night to dissuade her from giving him the potion, so far he had not managed to evade her but on this particular night she had heard a noise outside as she had placed the potion on the table and had run outside to investigate the noise, he had been practising with his wand on the glasses of water she had brought to his bedside and had discovered how to make liquids disappear, Dudley had used the opportunity to banish the potion and as she came back into the shack he had pretended that he had drained the glass. She had been so distracted by the disturbance outside that she had not questioned the fact that he had drunk the potion so quickly, she simply removed the glass and helped him into bed.

It had been an hour since she had done that and Dudley was feeling better than he had done since he had first woken up there, something he now fully attributed to the fact that he had gone without the potion. He stared up at the ceiling and thought about the face with the deep brown eyes, it had finally formed completely in his mind a few days before, a beautiful face with soft freckles, full lips and a small perfectly proportioned nose, flaming red hair fell in curls around it and he felt like he was deeply in love with the person it belonged to, he had seen more emotions in those eyes during his dreams to add to the ones he had seen in the memory flash although they always returned to looking pained and hurt and he longed to make them better. He searched his head deep into the night desperate to recall who they belonged to, the memory was there behind that wall, he just wished he could find it.

The following morning Dudley awoke feeling more refreshed than ever, he felt stronger and fitter than he had for months and again realised that the potions Annala made him were doing him more harm than good. For the next week he managed to find different ways of distracting her when she brought his potion and made her think that he was draining the glass quickly, she seemed edgy all of a sudden like she was on alert for something and her usual watchful gaze seemed slightly lax. Since the night he had rejected her she had not tried to touch him or become intimate with him again for which he was grateful and she left him alone in the room most of the day and night something that suited him just fine. His nights were spent searching for that memory while his days were used to strengthen his knee, since he had stopped taking the potion he had been able to stand for longer and longer on it, but he hid this fact from Annala.

He could not avoid the potion every night as she was becoming suspicious that she hadn't actually seen him drink it and on the nights he had taken it he'd slept like a baby and woken up feeling drained rather than refreshed, he also found the days after he had taken it that he could not stand on his knee at all and it would take a few more days of building up the strength before he could stand for a sustained amount of time. His anger and frustration were growing but he could see no way of getting out of the place until it had recovered, he had tried to apparate with the wand that he had but Annala had obviously placed protective wards around the place trapping him in, and without the strength in his knee to carry him past them he was stuck. The more he thought about his supposed history the more he felt it was lie, it didn't add up to him and neither did the body he was in, he had wondered if the potion he was taking had some kind of polyjuice in it but he knew that it needed to be replenished on the hour if the personsa was to remain, there was no way he had been doing this so he had dismissed the thought immediately. The only time he felt at peace was when he was thinking of the beautiful face that haunted his dreams, he longed to be able to touch it and had even thought about kissing the soft looking full lips on more than one occasion, an image he replayed over and over in his head and one which made him regret more and more the intimate tryst that had almost taken place with Annala.

One morning, about three weeks after he had tried to stop taking her potion, Annala entered the bedroom and announced that it was Christmas day, Dudley gasped as a sudden image came into his head of a red headed boy announcing the same thing and then running from a room shouting, "Presents," where had it come from? He wondered for a few seconds but before he had time to continue the situation it was gone and his black box of a mind closed down on him again. The day passed like any other day in the shack except that Annala prepared a more sumptuous meal in the evening consisting of roast turkey, potatoes and stuffing, he managed to distract her again when she placed the potion down and as he made no fuss about it anymore she had come to the conclusion that he was happy again just to take it and so distracting her had not been difficult. He was determined not to take it again, he wanted to build up his strength and get out of there as soon as he could.

As the sun set he asked Annala to help him back to the room where he could sleep, assuming he was feeling the effects of the potion, she helped him in, tucked him into bed and watched him fall asleep, or so she thought. As soon as the door was closed Dudley began to exercise his leg quietly, he kept at it for hours using the muscle by bending his knee backward and forward and pushing himself to stand and move quietly around the room, eventually exhaustion took over and he slept the night through waking as refreshed and ready as he always did when he had not taken Annala's potion.

His day was spent pusing himself again and he fell into an exhausted sleep once more shortly after he had eaten, however at some point during the night Dudley was woken from his sleep by the dream he was having, it was the usual one where the beautiful face with the ever changing, haunting eyes swam in front of him, they appeared in a different light to him tonight, something new that he had not seen in them before. The look was a mixture of fear, pain and excitement he could not imagine why they might have all of those emotions all at once but wondered if they were trying to tell him something, were they connected to him in some way? He could not go back to sleep as they seemed to be calling him, he thought about those three emotions racking his brains to think why they might be scared, pained and excited all at the same time, when Annala entered the room with breakfast and found him restless and sleepy she assumed it was her potion's work and left as soon as he had eaten leaving him to work once more in solitude, just the way he liked it.

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Christmas at the Burrow was a much more subdued affair than it had ever been since the one that had taken place during the war when Harry, Hermione and Ron had been absent, they swapped presents and ate a sumptuous Christmas meal cooked by Molly, but their hearts were not in it at all. Harry had been missing for almost eight months now and had been out of their lives for nearly nine, Ginny was an emotional rollercoaster, partially due to pregnancy hormones but mostly due to the absence of her husband. They all went through the motions trying to make it a fun occasion but they were all too disheartened to really try. Shortly before bedtime when Molly was busy making cocoa and the Weasley boys were playing games of wizard chess and gobstones Hermione gestured to Ginny with her head that she should follow her from the room. The older witch led her up to Ginny's old room where she closed the door and withdrew some papers from inside her robes, spreading them out on the bed she gestured for Ginny to sit down.

"I carried on looking through the Black library for information on memory charms and I found this," she picked up a piece of parchment covered in her own handwriting which she handed to Ginny, "I copied it down from an old book it was hidden away behind some others, probably because it's about love, not exactly something which was high on their list of priorities in terms of magic was it?" she chuckled a little and Ginny smiled before beginning to read. The piece was titled _MEMORY LOSS AND LOVE WHERE DOES IT GO?_

_We have already discussed that when a person's memory is wiped correctly by magic it is completely obliterated and nothing will be able to bring it back, it is essentially erased from the person's mind which is why the condition is irreversible. The question in this section however is concerning love, one of the most mysterious powers in the universe which is constantly studied by the most knowledgeable wizards, but rarely understood by them. Through case studies on memory loss patients it was discovered that most people were unable to love a person they had loved before their memory loss, while they were capable of loving another and in fact capable of loving that same person again, be it a child, a relative or a lover, the initial love was completely wiped out with the memory loss. Those few patients who were able to feel love for a person they could not initially remember did in fact regain their memory loss as it was either temporary or a spell had been cast which was not strong enough to wipe the memory completely._

Hermione watched carefully as she read and then Ginny looked up into her eyes, "I was right Gin, if his love was gone then your stone would not shine, either the spell has not been performed or it wasn't done correctly, his love is still there so his memory must be. I read through some other books on the spell and they explained that if the wizard was not powerful enough to complete the spell it would block the mind rather than remove it, effectively creating a box or a wall in the mind behind which all the memories are waiting to be revealed. Often small flashes pop through the wall especially if the person is presented with a situation similar to one they have been in before, small flashes creep in but it takes a while for the big picture to build up although often one small thing can break down the wall like a bulldozer." Hermione stopped and waited for the information to sink in, "If we find him, I am sure we can find something which will break down that wall and bring him back to us, he's not gone Ginny, this proves it," she lifted the shining gold stone on the chin around her neck as tears shone in her own eyes, they were reflected in the younger witch's too and they sat for a few minutes hugging each other and crying softly.

"Thank you Hermione," Ginny whispered, "This is the best present I have ever had!"

"You're welcome Ginny, now we'd better get back to the others, I thought it best to keep them out of it as it concerned your necklace, but we can just tell them we needed a minute, I'm sure they'll understand!"

The boxing day tea passed in a similar way to Christmas dinner except that they were joined by a few others, including Luna, Neville and Dean. As Charlie was visiting a friend and staying overnight Ron had taken over the roll of keeping a watchful eye on Dean as Charlie had shared his fears about the boy's intention. Ron and Hermione left early and returned to their flat for a few nights and Luna and Neville apparated away shortly after they had all finished eating as they were spending the Christmas holiday with Augusta and had left him alone with Xenophilius for the visit. As she was busy fussing over her remaining guests and had not been told about Ron and Charlie's suspicions about Dean, Molly insisted that he accompany Ginny back to Grimmauld Place, when she was beginning to show tiredness, to ensure that she arrived safely.

Ginny had tried to refuse but Dean had been as insistent as Molly when he realised she would be returning to an empty house as Ginny had also insisted Kreacher attend the Christmas gathering at Hogwarts for the house elves. It was a tradition which had been started by Hermione when the first Christmas had come around after she had officially founded the department of SPEW at the Ministry, she believed that they deserved to have an occasion and had persuaded McGonagall to hold it at the castle as that was where they had shown their loyalties during the final battle. Kreacher had not wanted to leave the house, as he rarely did but she knew that once he was there he would at least be with others of his kind and though he could not imagine him having what she would call a good time, she knew he would get something out of it. So they had set off from the Burrow shortly before ten o clock and were now sitting in the kitchen drinking cups of cocoa, Ginny sat back in the chair and sighed, her back had been aching since she had risen from her old bed at the Burrow that morning, and it had got steadily worse throughout the day, she had assumed it was the unfamiliarity of the bed but in just the last ten or fifteen minutes the ache had developed into a mild pain and she was beginning to realise what it was, she winced as another regular pain hit her and Dean leaned over to her with a look of concern on his face, "Are you alright?"

"No, I don't think-" she gasped as an acute pain ripped through her body violently and she grabbed hold of Dean's hand, "I think I'm in labour," he looked at her aghast, "Shall I get your Mum or Hermione?" he asked lines of worry crossing his face, "I don't think there's time," she gasped as another pain gripped her like a vice and she doubled over screaming out in agony, "Help me to the bedroom, please." Dean nodded and guided her towards the kitchen door, they made it up the first set of stairs before she collapsed on to her hands and knees and groaned agonisingly, Dean did not know what to do, he looked horrorstruck and his heart went out to the girl who was obviously in an immense amount of pain, he bent down and lifted her up in his arms, walking into the first room he found he laid her down on the couch in the sitting room. Ginny was seemingly unaware of what he had done as she was now writhing with each contraction which ripped through her body, her waters broke leaving a puddle of liquid which soaked into the cushions of the couch.

Dean looked down at her helplessly, "Let me get your Mum." But her eyes pleaded with him and through short rasping pants she whispered, "Please don't leave me," she grasped his hand firmly and squeezed it, crying out in agony, he nodded his head at her and tried to soothe her by talking softly and telling her she was doing well. Dean looked into her eyes and tried to get her to focus on him, he had no idea what he was doing and was afraid for her and the baby but she was insistent that he stay by her side, he could see in her eyes that she was scared and had probably not been prepared for the enormous amount of pain she was in, every few minutes she gripped hold of his arm and cried out and he longed to be able to take it all away for her. Three hours later Ginny was still puffing and panting in the sitting room at Grimmauld Place, Dean had tried numerous times to go and bring help but she flatly refused to be left alone and as there was no one else in the house to help, he had not been able to go, Abery had left to stay with his family until he was fully recouperated and they had agreed that they would keep him hidden until that had happened.

She screamed and shouted at each contraction and Dean had no way to relieve it, her hair was matted and sticking to her face and she looked exhausted, terror filled her face but it was mingled with a look of excitement too, which he assumed was her way of reminding herself that she was going through this for a baby. The labour was taking its toll he could see and she was beginning to cry as contraction after contraction hit her, she whispered softly in the brief minutes between each one, "Harry, where are you? I need you here." Dean's heart broke again watching her pine for a man who could not return to her but could not blame her for wanting him here while she was going through this. She kept gripping the stone beneath her blouse, the only small link she had to Harry as she whispered his name over and over again, "Please Harry, I need you." Her pain did not let up and as she had refused to go to St Mungos either she had had no pain relief at all, Dean was sure she would know something being a healer but she would not use her wand on herself afraid that in her state she might perform the spell incorrectly and harm her baby or herself. Dean thought she had fallen into a state of delirium when she began to talk to Harry and his fear for her increased enormously, "Harry, please hear me, I know you are there somewhere and I love you, I want you here with me for this but I know you can't be, but know I am doing this for you, for us and I will make sure that he or she is looked after until you can come back to me."

"Shush, Ginny, it's alright, I...I'm here," Dean whispered to her and she looked at him with an unusual expression on her face, he thought she had decided for a moment that he was Harry, until she said his name, "Thank you Dean I-" she was cut off by another contraction and he had to stand by and watch her again.

Finally after another hour of intense pain she panted out, "It's…coming…you…have…to…help," her healer training had taught her the signs for when to push and how to help the baby into the world, "When…the…head…is…out…turn…the…body," Dean grimaced but continued to listen to her instruction, "Make's…it…easier," she smiled at him and he was in awe at her strength, that she could smile reassurance at him when she was in so much pain. Dean positioned himself where he could see the baby, it did not occur to him that it might be inappropriate for him to be here, he was just desperate to help the young girl who he had found himself falling in love with over the last few weeks. Ginny began to push and within minutes he could see the baby's head, he shouted words of encouragement as Ginny continued to breath quickly and groan, eventually the head was out and he turned it just as she had said, a few more pushes and a last agonising sound from Ginny and the room was filled with silence, a silence that was abruptly interrupted by the wail of the baby now laying in Dean's arms.

He was absolutely amazed and looked at Ginny, still in awe at what had just taken place, and miraculously found that she was smiling back at him and staring at the life he was now holding in his arms, he cut the cord as she instructed him and handed the baby over to a tired and drained looking Ginny, "It's a boy," she gasped gazing down at the tiny bundle, "James."

Dean looked down at the little family in front of him, Ginny was slumped up against the couch and he sat behind her putting his arms around her shoulders and rubbing them gently, "Well done Gin, you were amazing."

"Thanks Dean, but so were you! You can go and get my Mum now if you like!" he nodded at her but was slightly reluctant to leave now that it was over, while he had been scared out of his wits, now that it was over he was secretly enjoying being in such an intimate position with Ginny but he shook his head and reminded himself that it was wrong, this baby was not his and neither was the girl he was comforting. She was still desperately in love with her dead husband and he had to leave her to that, he left her with James and flooed to the Burrow where he woke the house hold to tell them the news.

The Weasley family descended on the house en masse the next morning, cooing over the baby, congratulating Ginny and thanking a shocked looking Dean who Ginny had insisted spent the night once her mother had fussed over her enough. He felt a little out of place but only Ron and Charlie were showing any displeasure at the fact that he had been there to deliver Ginny's baby, while they was grateful that she had not been alone, they was still worried that he had an ulterior motive for spending so much time with their youngest, and still married, sibling. Hermione had picked up similar reservations about him recently as he had been quite insistent about seeing Ginny regularly but she was thankful to him for helping Ginny through the birth even though she agreed with Ron and Charlie that it was a little inappropriate.

Mother and baby were happy and healthy when the Weasleys, barring Hermione, left the kitchen later that night with Dean in tow to wet the baby's head at the Leaky Cauldron. Ginny laid her new arrival down in the basket next to her own bed and climbed in beside it, she could not stop staring at the wonderful baby sleeping peacefully by her side and she thought wistfully once more of Harry. A tear slid from her eye as she thought about him not being here for this wonderful moment, she no longer cared that he had not been there to help her through the birth but was sad that he hadn't been there to see his own son born, she was distracted so much by the thought that she didn't hear the bushy haired girl walk into her room until she felt her sit down beside her on the bed.

"Ginny, he's beautiful," she whispered, "He looks like Harry, but with your eyes I think," Ginny smiled at the compliment, she agreed wholeheartedly and was happy to have another reminder of Harry around the place. "Did you already have the name?"

Ginny nodded, "James for a boy and Lily for a girl, I think Harry will be happy with it."

"He'll be thrilled!" The elder girl hugged the younger one and they both began to cry, "Look at the state of us," Hermione giggled and Ginny joined her as she wiped her eyes, fingering the rock around her neck with one hand and wiping away the tears with the other she said adamantly, "I'm sick of crying and I'm not going to do it again unless they are tears of happiness, we are going to find Harry with or without his memory and we will have him back here with us soon, he needs to meet his son, James Sirius Potter!" Hermione's smile broadened at the name, she knew Harry would be so pleased to have his father and godfather honoured by his son, "Let's go and see the tree," Ginny said tugging gently on Hermione's arm, she looked slightly confused as she followed Ginny down the stairs but realised what she was talking about when they reached the room where Ginny and Harry's new family tree was housed.

They entered the room and looked in the middle of it where a bright gold name had recently embroidered itself on to the wall attached to a line which led up to Harry and Ginny's names. The two women smiled again and then broke into more giggles, "This feels good," Ginny said as they left the room and headed back up to the master bedroom, "We need to do it more, Harry will know that we miss him but he would not want us to be miserable all the time, that's not him is it?" Hermione shook her head, "No Harry would always think of others and not himself!" she added and then left Ginny at her bedroom doorway for some much needed sleep and waited for the boys downstairs.

Kreacher had returned from Hogwarts as soon as he had heard that James had been born, he had cursed himself for not being there and tried to iron his hands as punishment, fortunately Ron had seen him heading for the hot iron and had banished it from the room ordering Kreacher not to punish himself in anyway. The Weasleys, now minus Dean, came back a little worse for wear shortly after midnight and Hermione had to help Ron into bed where he collapsed immediately and snored throughout the whole night.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

When James was two weeks old Ginny decided to take him out in public and show the world the handsome new Potter, she flooed with him to Diagon Alley where she visited her brothers' shop, got money out of the vault at Gringotts and bought some new baby clothes from Madam Malkins. She received many curious stares from people who knew she was Harry's wife and she knew the story would hit the Daily Prophet the following day. On her way back to the Leaky Cauldron she bumped into Dean who rushed up to say hello giving her a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek before taking James from her arms and pulling silly faces at him. Ginny chuckled at him and Dean thought her whole face lit up, motherhood was good for her and the brightness it had returned to her eyes made her seem all the more beautiful. While he thought it was a crime that the lovely little baby he was holding would never know the hero who was his father he also realised that maybe Ginny was moving on with her life and though he knew she would never forget or stop loving the father of her child he also thought hopefully that she might be able to find love again.

"Do you have time for a drink?" he asked her and she nodded. They walked into the Leaky Cauldron where pairs of staring eyes followed them to a seat in the corner, they chuckled at the response they had received imagining Skeeter's article while settling down with two tankards of butterbeer.

"I wanted to thank you again, Dean, for helping us so much," she looked down at the sleeping baby and then gratefully into his eyes, his heart skipped a beat when she stared at him and he found himself gazing back into hers.

"It was nothing," he said trying to sound nonchalant, but failing miserably.

"Yeah right, delivering a baby, that's nothing, especially when it's not your baby, and it had nothing whatsoever to do with you! I'd call it something, you were great and so calm."

"Calm! You think I was calm? I was panicking like mad!"

"Well you hid it well," she chuckled, "And I'm sure Harry would be grateful to you too," he noticed that the mention of Harry's name was not tinged with sadness and he took this as another hopeful sign that she was beginning to move on in whatever way she could. "You should come for dinner next week, Ron and Hermione would agree as would Charlie, we really ought to thank you properly for being there you know, how about Wednesday?"

"That would be great," he replied his stomach jumping again, maybe this would be a good time to talk to Ginny about his feelings if he could get her alone, he had a feeling that Ron and Charlie would not be too pleased with him being invited for dinner as he thought they were slightly suspicious about him. He didn't want to rush Ginny and would let her know that but he was confident that her sudden emotional change was a good sign, he also knew that Harry would not have wanted her to wallow in grief and loneliness all her life without him. Surely Ron and Charlie would not want that either, they were obviously looking out for their sister which he found touching and he knew he would need to be careful around them but he was confident that given time they might come to accept that Ginny needed to move on with her life and if she was willing to let him help her do that then he would.

"Perfect, seven o clock, I'll make you a floo appointment from here shalI I?" he nodded and she continued, "Now I hate to run but I must get James home, he'll be ready for his feed soon and I could do with a rest, it's so tiring being a single Mum!" she seemed to be joking and he again took it as a good sign. Watching her disappear in the flames with the tiny baby he had helped to bring into the world Dean Thomas allowed himself to hope that he could find true happiness with the girl he now realised he had fallen for once more and he was determined that if she would have him he would never leave her to go anywhere.

The following Wednesday evening Dean arrived in the fireplace of Grimmauld Place after Ginny had sent him a floo appointment, he was wearing a suit which Ron thought was a bit much but Ginny exclaimed that he looked smart and perhaps her brother ought to follow his example and look nice for dinner every now and again. They dined on Kreacher's meat and potato pie followed by a scrumptious apple crumble with custard, they also used the main dining room as they had a guest and for a short while Ginny was relieved of her thoughts and troubles as the four friends talked about their days at Hogwarts. Charlie was out for the evening with a few old friends so they had the house to themselves but a cry from the upstairs room reminded them that they were not in Hogwarts anymore and signalled that James needed something so Ginny excused herself to see what he wanted.

She walked into the bedroom she had shared with Harry and looked down on their son who was calling out for his feed, sliding her top to one side she endulged the infant who suckled on her for a good ten minutes, again she stared at the photograph of her and her husband and whispered his name softly. When James was satisfied he went back to sleep and she laid him down in the basket beside the bed tucking him in with a soft blue blanket that Luna had given to her and leaving the room on tiptoe so as not to wake him. Kreacher was always around to watch over him and Ginny felt at ease leaving him in the upstairs room while she returned to her meal downstairs.

As she reached the bottom of the flight of steps she came face to face with Dean who had just left the bathroom on the middle floor, "He's sleeping again?" Dean asked smiling and she nodded in reply. He was heartened by the fact that they had shared a few comfortable hours where Ginny had repeatedly mentioned Harry without looking troubled or unhappy, and she had looked better than he had seen her look since he had got back in touch with her after hearing of Harry's death. He hoped that what he was about to say would result in her at least contemplating moving on and allowing someone else into her life sometime. "Have you eaten enough Dean?" she interrupted his thoughts and he looked at her with confusion as he remembered that she was there.

"What? Sorry, oh yes, yes thank you" he answered looking uncomfortably at his feet.

"Is everything alright Dean?" she asked with a concerned tone to her voice. He coughed and shifted his weight from foot to foot as she continued to stare at him looking confused, "Well it's just that," he began coughing again, "I…I just thought, the last few times I've seen you, well since you had James you seem to be...brighter and happier with yourself and," he coughed once more, this was much more difficult than he had imagined it might be, "Well with Harry being…" He drifted off and looked up at her face, she still had a confused expression on it but he thought she looked so beautiful that he couldn't help himself he leaned swiftly forwards and placed his lips against her, for a split second Ginny wanted to respond, it had been so long since she had had the touch of a man in such a way but she instantly knew this was not the kiss that she wanted, it was not Harry's kiss and nothing else would ever be good enough, she pulled her head back and looked at him.

"Dean, what are you…?" she asked softly not wanting to hurt his feelings, he looked mortified, he had completely mis-read the signals and realised that he had acted too soon, "Ginny, I'm…I'm sorry, I just thought…you seemed happier like you had, I don't know like you'd moved on, but obviously not, I…I was wrong, I'm sorry it was too soon I should have realised. I just thought after the baby and we've been getting on so well that…I hoped..." She looked mortified herself, had she acted like she was over Harry? Like she had left him behind? She would never leave him behind and move on even if the worst happened. "I shouldn't have tried to kiss you Ginny I'm sorry, I know it won't be easy for you to ever forget Harry, especially with you now having James, but I just hoped that, well still hope that maybe one day you might consider seeing me as more than just a friend, I..I don't want to replace Harry but I know he would not want you to be alone forever, or James for that matter. I'm just sorry that I kissed you, I should have spoken to you first."

"Dean," she said softly, afraid to insult or embarrass him, it had been a nice gesture she realised as she remembered that to the rest of the world she was a widow and therefore available in that way, "I'm sorry if I made you think like that but I don't think I could ever move on from Harry, I mean I'm flattered and so grateful that you were there for me and James but…" she drifted off and he nodded.

"I should go," he said turning on his heel and heading down the next set of steps, "Dean," she grabbed his arm, "You don't need to leave, let's just forget it."

"No Ginny I really should go, I've made a fool of myself and I'm sorry, I should have realised you would never get over Harry, I mean you were always meant to be, everyone knew that, maybe you are never meant to be with anyone else."

"Dean you will always be important to me and James, you helped him into the world-"

"Gin, it doesn't matter." He nodded his head at her and then hurried down the stairs, she heard the front door close behind him and she sighed deeply, returning to the dining room where Ron and Hermione were waiting she made up a tale about Dean having to get off which they seemed to accept and they spent the rest of the night chatting aimlessly about nothing in particular. When she went to bed later that night after feeding an ever hungry James again she thought back over what Dean had said to her and wondered if it was her fault, had she led him on in some way? She had thought that they were old friends catching up on lost time but in hindsight maybe Charlie had been right, for all intents and purposes to the rest of the world she a single woman, and though she strongly believed that even if it were true she would never find anyone else who would match up to Harry, she also had to admit that there were probably people out there who would try to convince her otherwise. She hoped the misunderstanding would not affect her and Dean's new found friendship as she would be forever grateful for his help the night James was born but she had a feeling that he would try to avoid her now and she felt a little sad about that. Whispering goodnight to her son she laid back on the pillows and fell asleep almost instantly, she dreamt that Harry had returned to her, a dream she had not actually had once since he had gone missing and she awoke feeling sad that it had only been a dream but hopeful that it could have been some kind of sign.

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It was three weeks after Christmas when Dudley was woken by strained and angry voices in the middle of the night, using the wand, which he was still convinced was not his, he had managed to perform a transfiguration spell that he had dragged from the far reaches of his mind, which turned the hindering potion into water at the flick of the wand. Since just after Christmas day he had been performing the spell every night and drinking the supposed potion without any qualms, Annala had been pleased that he had given up trying to refuse it and decided that he had relented and realised it could be helping him.

Dudley had spent his days when she was not around pushing his leg harder and harder until he could stand and walk a few feet across the room and back again without his leg buckling, he had found that it had became much easier ever since he had stopped taking the potion. He hid his progress form Annala and allowed her to help him get from room to room when he needed to even though he was almost able to cross the entire room without his leg giving way beneath him. His nights had been spent once more searching through those few images he had glimpsed, trying to piece them together but the only thing he felt anything about at all was the beautiful girl who he had fallen head over heels in love with even though it felt like he had never met or spoken to her in his life. That last image he had had of the eyes which felt as if they were trying to speak to him still plagued him and he wondered if something had happened to the girl, he found himself worrying about her and wanted to find out more about himself in the hopes that it would lead him to her.

He had not been asleep long when the voices woke him, one of them was Annala's but the second one was a gruff man's voice, he grabbed hold of his wand as he thought she might be in trouble but as he swung his legs out of bed he began to listen to the conversation and realised that Annala must know the man she was arguing with.

"How much longer is it going to take? He's getting fed up of waiting," growled the man's voice.

"You think I'm not fed up of waiting? I've been rotting away in this shack with Dudley Dursley," she drawled his name in annoyance, "Feeding him the potion everyday to make sure his memory doesn't return, I mean if the spell had been performed correctly in the first place there wouldn't have been a problem would there? Stupid incompetent fool why was he left to do it? He couldn't perform a simple disarming spell without it backfiring."

"I told ya, he was the one who got a hold of him in the struggle, it had to be done quick and he did it."

"Well he did a damn poor job of it."

"How's he doing now, managed to convince him he's practically an ex death eater of Voldemort's with a passion for torturing and killing muggles and mudbloods?" the gruff voice cackled.

"I've told him yeah but he doesn't want to believe it, says he doesn't feel like a person who could torture someone into insanity."

"What even though he's a murderer really?" Dudley gasped, so the story was a lie, but he was a murderer? Wasn't that worse? "Killed Voldemort didn't he?" That name struck a chord with Dudley, somewhere in the back of his mind, "Well you just got to keep trying, Lestrange is getting impatient," another name which seemed familiar to him, but why? Dudley felt as if another small chink had fallen from the wall in his mind but continued to listen afraid he might miss something which would make it come tumbling down. "If we get ol Dudley on our side we can't be stopped, he has some powerful magic inside him, we only need to tap into some of it, get him to teach us and then we'll kill him!" he laughed raucously.

"I'm doing my best, keep telling him the story the Ministry have supposedly told me, trying to get him to believe that he's running from them but if it ain't in his nature it's going to be hard."

"Yeah well, just get to it as quick as possible, and make sure ya don't go slipping him any bits of info that might jog that memory that wasn't wiped out properly, all it'll take is a name dropped in or a familiar image."

"You think I don't know that?" Annala screeched, "Have I given him anything in the last nine months to jog his memory? No I bloody haven't, I even hid his real wand and gave him another so he couldn't rebuild his connection with it."

"Where is his wand then?"

"I've told you before it's in a box in the kitchen cupboard out of the way along with that silver thing he had on him too."

"Did you work out what that was?"

"No, I kept trying it but all it did was take the light out if the room, some kind of magic instrument for extinguishing light, Merlin knows why he had it on him."

"Well as long as he don't find out he's really Harry Potter, the plan should still work, just get a move on with corrupting him will you, I'm getting sick of Lestrange bellyaching!"

As he heard the words Harry Potter the wall in his head seemed to crumble like sand and fall away to nothing revealing memory upon memory which came suddenly surging past the place where the wall had been like a tidal wave. His whole life began to flash across his head, his miserable childhood in Privet Drive, Hagrid announcing he was a wizard on his eleventh birthday, meeting Ron and Hermione on the Hogwarts Express, being attacked by dementors, winning the Tri wizard cup, watching Sirius die, kissing Ginny, killing Voldemort, winning Ginny again and the best memory of all, marrying the girl of his dreams, the woman with the haunting eyes. "Ginny," he whispered, she hadn't given up on him, it was her who had been trying to reach past that wall. He gasped as all these memories mixed with millions more and cascaded into his head like a film reel, he remembered the mission and finding out that Croft was a double agent, he remembered them taking him and the last thing he remembered before waking up here was a bumbling buffoon shouting, "Obliviate," before he disappeared into darkness and woke up in the shack with Annala looking over him.

It was all a plot, she had been keeping him here, trying to turn him into a dark wizard by feeding him lies and keeping his mind confused and his knee immobile. He had been right all along, he was not a dark wizard who tortured and killed, he was an auror fighting for the good people and getting rid of the bad ones, sending them to Azkaban or killing them if he needed to. Lestrange was behind this, he thought, but how could he be? He was residing in Azkaban, nothing more than a soulless shell of a body living and breathing but with no memory or life at all, how could he be? Then he realised, he remembered that they had been unable to discover who was leading the band of wizards as they had not gained enough trust in the group for him to reveal himself, but it must have been Lestrange, but not Rodolphus. There were two Lestrange brothers, he remembered discovering that when he was investigating Rodlolphus, the first time when he had fled from the battle of Hogwarts upon the demise of his precious master. His brother was as evil as him and could be the one leading this group into demonstrations, he had been a death eater and so was well aware of what it would take to try and take over the wizarding world like Voldemort had done.

Harry looked down at his body, it wasn't his body, he remembered now taking on the appearance of his cousin Dudley before the mission and using the new branch of transfiguration magic to do it. He heard the door close as the man left the shack and he laid down in bed as he thought about what to do next. He did not have the strength to find his wand and fight the girl while his leg would still not hold him for long, he needed to make it stronger then get hold of it while she was not around before he could make his move.

Staring at the ceiling he thought of Ginny, and his heart almost broke for her as he thought about what she must have been going through, if he had been in the shack for nine months then he had been away from her for ten, the last thing he had promised her was that he would come back this time and he hadn't, what did she think had happened to him? What was she doing now? He knew she would have worried about him constantly but did she even know he was alive? And if she thought that he was not would she have moved on, got on with her life without him? After everything they had already gone through over the years and now he had not returned to her when he had promised to do so. He could see her deep, brown eyes, red hair and beautiful freckled face so clearly in his mind, she had never left him, from the beginning she had been trying to break through that blank wall of memories that he had had refusing to let him go. He realised he had been the one causing the pain in her eyes and he felt gulity immediately, and that night she had woken him with pain and excitement filled eyes, what had happened to her? He suddenly realised that he was extrememly worried about her and he longed to return home right then and hold her, kiss her, he just wanted to see her and make sure she was alright, he also knew that when he did see her again he would never ever let her go.

**So I hope many of you are happy now that his memory has returned, sorry it has taken a while but I needed the baby to be born before it returned, I didn't want him to know anything about it! Please review and I'll update soon!!**


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Harry had to wait three more days before his leg was strong enough to support his weight fully and carry him to the kitchen, he had spent every waking hour flexing the muscle around his knee and pushing himself to cross the room and back, knowing that he would need all of his strength to get out of the room, find his real wand and the diluminator which would return him immediately to Ginny, and make it past the wards in order to use it. When darkness fell he did not stop pushing himself, his determination to get back to Ginny as soon as he could spurred him to keep pushing, there was no pain in the joint but each time he felt it buckle his frustration would get the better of him but her haunting eyes would make him get back up and try again. Finally he managed to walk across the room and back again three times and still felt strong enough to continue, he knew the time had come and he was waiting for an opportunity to leave he heard Annala leave the shack, probably to find wood for the fire and took his chance. He limped across the room, his determination spurring him on and made it to the kitchen, frantically he searched every cupboard in the room until he eventually found a long black box at the back of one of them. Taking it down and placing it on the table he opened the box and stared down upon his holly wand and the silver diluminator, throwing the diluminator in his pocket he picked up the wand and felt a warmth that only his own wand could give him, it felt like it was an extension of his arm, it felt natural and comfortable and as he waved it around in the air he felt his resolve grow stronger and stronger.

"What are you doing?" said an angry voice behind him, he spun around quickly and came face to face with Annala a look of mingled shock and anger on hers, he matched the face with his own anger and pointed his real wand at her.

"The game is up Annala, I know everything," she gasped and looked a little scared, "That's right, the whole story, I am Harry Potter not Dudley Dursley, that was the persona I took on when I began my mission to help the Romanian Ministry take down this gang of wizards you seem to have allied yourself with." She began to look around wildly not really knowing what she was searching for. "You have failed, Annala, I will never help a dark wizard no matter what, you could not convince me that I was bad, I knew deep down that it was wrong, my memories may have been hidden but my morals and beliefs were still there, you couldn't take them away." His wand was trained on her and she had re-entered the shack unarmed and was now totally at his mercy.

"But, how did you? The potion, you've been taking the potion, how can your leg be so strong and your memory?"

"Oh you have your little friend to thank for that, the one who called a few nights ago, the one who told you to make sure that I was not given anything familiar that I could latch onto, but he made the mistake, he said my name and the black wall in my mind came tumbling down."

"But still the potion, I've seen you drinking it." She said edging her way along the counter to where her wand was.

"You forget, I am a powerful wizard, you may have given me a wand that I could not connect with but a good wizard can use any wand if they need to, I managed to extract a transfiguration spell from the tangle in my brain, a simple spell which turns any liquid to water, no matter how potent it's contents might be, did you not wonder why I was suddenly carrying my wand with me all the time? I worked out that the potion was hindering my leg's progress not helping it and I haven't taken it since before Christmas, I have built myself up, made myself stronger and stronger and my breakthrough came when you and your accomplice told me the rest three nights ago, you opened the floodgates, and I may have lost nine months of my life but you are not taking any more of it. Incarcerous," he called loudly and ropes flew from the end of his wand binding Annala and leaving her in the middle of the room, eyes flying wildly in their search for an escape, "Don't worry I won't kill you, I am not a murderer, I will leave your friends to find you and let them do whatever it is they do with a failure."

"I think you are just a little too late Harry," said a deep drawling voice from the kitchen doorway, Harry spun around to face a large thick set man standing with his wand pointed at Harry, "My mistake was it? Well I can't have that getting back to Lestrange can I? I will just have to deal with you myself, I can say I stumbled upon you attacking the poor defenceless Annala, which would not be a lie," he cackled.

"The lie is what you have been making me live for the last nine months, how dare you?" Harry spat in response.

"How dare I? Were you not the one living that lie to try and collect information on my master and his followers? You started the lie, why should we not continue it in order to gain something much more powerful than we had?"

"Well it went wrong didn't it? You used the wrong person to wipe my memory, it was only hidden, it was never gone!"

"That doesn't matter now, you won't be going back, my master will have to do without your power as I will kill you, Annala will back up my story when I explain that your memory returned and you attacked her, say goodbye to the world Harry Potter, Avada Ke-"

"Crucio," Harry called and the man began to scream as his body attempted to turn itself inside out, "Made me a torturer? Then feel my torture!" Annala screamed and struggled against her bonds desperate to hide from the attack for fear she would be hit by a stray curse but it was useless, Harry was a trained auror and a powerful wizard, his spells were strong and she could not release herself from the bonds. The man stopped screaming as Harry lowered his wand and removed the curse, he lay without moving on the floor and Harry used the opportunity to bind him as he had Annala, before leaving the shack he reiterated his comment, "I will leave your friends to find you and let them do whatever it is they do with a failure." He spat these words as he walked away taking nothing with him except for his wand and the diluminator which was now gripped in his hand, still inside his pocket.

He walked for a few yards before taking the diluminator out of his pocket, clicking it slowly he watched as a ball of light flew out and hovered in the air in front of him, he was going to see Ginny again, the light was going to take him to her wherever she was, like it had always been meant to do, but this time it was to save him and not her. The light hovered for a moment longer before it went into his body and Harry found himself being transported through the air rapidly, he was feeling disorientated when he landed in front of a tall, familiar building, his home and the place in which he was about to see the woman who had haunted his dreams for the last nine months, never giving up on him.

He was afraid to enter the house now that he had arrived, and found himself standing on the doorstep stock still and barely breathing, she would be on the other side of that door and he would once again be able to stare deeply into the real eyes which had been with him all the time but now he was scared of what he might find in them, and when she saw him would she know it was him? He could not transfigure his appearance without someone from the Ministry and the appearance he had was far from that of Harry Potter. He took a deep breath and readied himself to enter, opening the door with his wand he heard the usual alerts sound and he braced himself for what was to come.

Ginny was sitting by the kitchen fire skim reading through a copy of Witch Weekly when she heard the alerts go off in the house, she looked up towards the kitchen door with a confused look on her face, only two other people in the world could enter the house without being brought in and as far as she knew one of them was upstairs with her son, which meant…her heart skipped a beat. She rose from her chair slowly and began walking steadily to the kitchen doorway, every footstep she took seemed to echo through her body as she tried to imagine who was on the other side of the door. She reached it and peered around the doorframe to look down the hallway of number twelve Grimmauld Place, her breath caught in her mouth when she saw a tall, bulky figure limping slowly towards her.

She had seen the man before, in a picture but never in the flesh, he had shoulder length blonde hair, a deep scar ran above his eyebrow in the exact place where Harry's lightening bolt was, his face was filled with apprehension and fear but she looked past that as he grew nearer and she noticed something in his eyes, a deep look of longing which was echoed in her own, "Harry?" she asked barely audibly and he nodded at her, relief washing over him in waves that she had not begun to scream and shout or hex him into oblivion when she had seen a person whom she did not recognise. He stumbled further forwards desperate to take the slim waif of a girl in his arms and hold her like he would never let her go but he heard an incantation from the steps to her right followed by a rope which bound his arms to his sides, he stood stock still.

"Charlie, what are you doing?" Ginny screamed, "It's…" her breath caught before she said his name, afraid that she was dreaming and if she spoke it then it would all disappear, "…Harry," she whispered.

"We don't know that for sure Ginny," Charlie's wand was trained on the intruder standing before both of them, he too had heard the alerts go off and darted down the stairs to stop his sister rushing headlong into the arms of this man. He desperately hoped that it was Harry standing in front of them and knew it was highly unlikely to be anyone else as he had entered the house but he had to be rational and be sure before he allowed him to reacquaint himself with his vulnerable sister.

"Charlie, I know it is him," she pleaded looking up into Harry's eyes once more and seeing the pain and longing that had been in hers for so long, "I can see it in his eyes," she finished softly oozing love for this unattractive man standing before her.

"No, Ginny, we do not know that this really is Harry and without proof I will not let you invite him into your home and your arms, you have waited long enough, if this really is Harry, then you can wait a while longer." Harry was listening to the altercation going on in front of him and though he longed to hold Ginny again he was respectful of Charlie and his need for proof and was prepared to wait.

"But-" she begged desperately.

"Ginny, before he left Harry asked us to protect you and that is what I am doing, if this is him then he will see the sense and allow me to keep him here until we have the proof." Ginny was about to counter argue when Harry said, "He's right, Ginny, let him do what he has to do, thank you Charlie."

"Charlie go and get Abery, he can transfigure him back to his real self, hurry." But the elder Weasley shook his head at the desperate girl, "I am not leaving you and James in this house with a possible stranger," he held up his hand to her as she tried to interrupt again, "I hope to God that this is really Harry but I have to take precautions and if it is him then I'm sure Harry will agree and understand why I have had to do it," he looked at the rough looking hulk standing in front of him and Harry nodded. He was desperate to hold his wife again but knew that Charlie was doing the right thing, and the thing Harry himself had begged them to do for him before he left. "Go and get Abery and I will wait here with him," he tried to sound relaxed as though he truly believed that this was Harry and was deeply sorry about having to treat him this way when he had been away from them for so long, but he had to do what was best for his sister and nephew. When he had heard the alerts he had known that it had to be Harry, but when confronted with a stranger's appearance, even though he knew Harry would not look the same, his instincts had kicked in. "Ginny go," he shouted but the girl turned to look at the bound and burly man in front of her who nodded to her and whispered, "Hurry," she turned on her heel running flat out to the fireplace where she disappeared seconds later in a whirl of green flames.

Charlie never took his eyes or his wand off of Harry but he didn't say another word until Ginny arrived back moments later with a much stronger looking Abery in her wake, he approached the constrained man and gave him one look before saying, "This is Harry, this is the appearance he took on for the mission, give me a minute." Ginny held her breath as Abery took his own wand from his robes and waved it above Harry's head while muttering an incantation under his breath, in front of their eyes the tall, thick set man with long blonde hair began to morph. The grimaces on his face told them all that the transformation was painful but Harry never uttered a single sound, slowly his size began to decrease and the blonde hair grew darker and darker until it became it's usual raven colour, the dark eyes changed into dazzling green ones and the lightening bolt scar on his head reformed.

Minutes later standing before them in the hallway of Grimmauld Place was the young and worn looking Harry Potter, Abery saw the shred of uncertainty still in Charlie's eyes and said, "It is him, the spell was to revert back to his original appearance, whatever that is. There is no question that this is Harry." Charlie's whole body visibly relaxed and with a flick of his wand the ropes binding Harry's arms to his sides disappeared, "Thanks," Harry croaked. Realising that his sister would want to be alone Charlie ushered Abery out of the hallway and back to the kitchen closing the door softly behind them.

Neither of them moved both still a little afraid that if they did it might all turn out not to be true, Ginny had not taken her eyes from his face throughout the entire transformation and she was still staring at him in disbelief. Her feet had turned to lead and would not move her anymore, a small trickle of tears began to fall down her face as Harry looked at her longingly, slowly and carefully he edged his way closer to her, desperately afraid to reach out and touch her now that he was so close, he had been gone for such a long time, would her feelings for him have changed?

His question was answered as he reached her and he tentatively lifted his hands up to brush the tears from her face, as his fingers grazed her cheeks she sagged with relief and lifted up her own hands, placing them on either side of his face she pushed herself up on her tiptoes and kissed his lips gently. It felt as though his entire body had melted as he pulled her tightly into his embrace and deepened the kiss, her arms wrapped around his head and pulled him closer as she continued to kiss him with a passion which had lain dormant inside her for ten months now. Finally and reluctantly they pulled apart and he stared down into the deep, soulful eyes which had haunted him for so long, their was no hurt or pain in them like the ones in his dreams, just joy and relief and tears. She smiled at him and he kissed the tip of her nose, "I can't believe it," she said softly still staring into his eyes and smiling, "I knew you were alive but it felt like you were never coming home."

"I promised you that I would come back, I'm so sorry that it has taken me a long time but now I am here," he muttered. Holding Ginny in his arms felt natural and wonderful, he never wanted to let go and they stood in the draughty hallway clinging to each other but soon realised they would need to go into the kitchen where he would have to explain a few things. Refusing to let her go he walked slowly to the door with his arm around her and opened it to find Charlie and Abery sitting at the table waiting anxiously for them to enter, they both nodded at him and Charlie apologised for the way he had treated him when he had appeared in the hallway. "After all," he had continued, "It was hardly what you needed when you came through the door. It is clear you have been through enough."

"No, but it's what I should have expected Charlie, you did the right thing, I asked you to protect Ginny and you did. For that I will be eternally grateful." He looked down again at his wife and sat down at the table to rest his aching knee, apparently the injury did not go away with the body of Dudley Dursley, Ginny stood behind him rubbing his shoulders needing to be in constant reach of him just to assure herself that she wasn't dreaming. "Where is Kreacher?" he asked wondering why the elf had not appeared yet. Charlie eyed Ginny before saying slowly, "With James," he then looked at Harry to see the reaction he had.

"Who is James?" he asked curiously.

"I er...think you two have some catching up to do, we'll leave you to it and go and tell everyone the good news, I think you need some time alone and though I know everyone will be anxious to see you Harry, we'll keep them away until the morning. Maybe this security system will finally pay off for you Gin, there's only me who can get in without an appointment!" he smiled at the couple and waved a goodnight before disappearing in a whirl of flames.

"What happened Abery?" Harry asked the remaining man.

"Not tonight my friend, we will catch up on everything in the morning, you have enough to catch up on for now. It's good to see you Harry! Goodnight Ginny," he bade as he too stepped into the fireplace and disappeared.

Once they were alone again Harry pulled Ginny onto his knee and put his arms around her waist, he knew he had missed her terribly all the time he had been away even though he had not known it and the last few days of waiting had been murderous, he could not begin to imagine what it must have been like for her. He kissed her again, still being tentative as he was aware that it had been a long time since she had shared such contact with him. "I have missed you so much," he whispered. "But what else have I missed? Where is Kreacher and who is James?" Ginny smiled at her husband and stood up, she proffered her hand which he took while rising out of his seat and she led him across the room.

She noticed that he was limping and stopped to look at him, "What's the matter with…?" she gestured to his knee but he mouthed the word "Later," so she continued to lead him out of the kitchen, up the stairs and towards their own bedroom. As they entered the room Kreacher began to jump up and down with excitement, Harry was amazed that he was so happy to see him but could not understand why he was making hushing noises as he jumped around and appeared to whoop silently. "Kreacher, you may see Mr Potter tomorrow, please retire to the kitchen, I have someone to introduce him to." The elf nodded and skipped out of the room whispering, "Mr Potter, so good to see you sir, Kreacher will see you soon and if Mistress needs me she must only call, Kreacher will be here for all the Potters."

Harry was now feeling more and more confused until Ginny took his hand once more and led him towards a small basket sat on the bedside, as he peered into the basket he gasped loudly and looked at his wife who was beaming back at him. Harry turned back to look at the small, peaceful baby laid in the basket, the baby with his exact nose and face shape, he was completely speechless, "Harry," Ginny said softly coming to stand beside him and reaching in to pick up the child in her arms, "Meet your son, James Sirius Potter." She held out the baby who had now opened his eyes and Harry took him in his arms, his heart melted as soon as he touched him and he suddenly felt an all consuming love for the little bundle in his arms. Looking at his now open and curious eyes he noted that they were like Ginny's, "But when…?" he drifted off.

"Just after Christmas," she replied still smiling at him, her heart had soared to finally see her beautiful son in the arms of his father, the man whom she loved beyond anything else. "So…when?" he enquired.

"The night we argued," she looked at him still radiating happiness and saw a frown cross his face, "But we were so rough and lustful." He was a little disturbed by the news that such a primal sort of act had been able to create such a wonderful thing. "No, passionate," she corrected, "Passion for each other, not lust, passion fuelled the argument, we were angry because we cared so much for each other, you were trying to protect me and I was trying to keep you here with me, that was what caused the argument, if we had not been so passionate about each other it would not have led to us both needing to let out our rage in the way that we did. That sex and passion for each other, borne from our love for each other, was the very thing which created the most special thing in the world, something which we created ourselves and something which will be ours forever, cemented by our passion." She had made it sound so beautiful and he placed the infant back in the basket so he could pull her into his arms and kiss her gently but passionately this time, reminding her of just how much love he had for her, love that he knew he would never take away again, not now, not after she had given him the most precious thing in the world, a son who she had named for his father and godfather something he thought made him love her even more.

**That's not quite it, there's another chapter and an epilogue to follow, so don't give up yet!!**


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Harry sat on the edge of the bed for an hour just staring at the month old boy in his arms, he was in complete awe of him, Ginny spent the time sitting in a chair watching the two important men in her life hardly daring to believe that one of them was actually sitting there on their bed again. When she had seen his face standing in the hallway, even though it wasn't really his face, she had known instinctively that it was him and her heart had melted completely. She knew she had missed him almost more than she could bear, but she had also been deathly afraid to step towards him and touch him at first in case he was a dream which would burst when she did. The young witch could also hardly believe that she had just introduced him to his son finally, she had been afraid for a while that when he returned he would not be happy about James, they had never seriously talked about children before he left as they were enjoying being carefree newlyweds but the look on Harry's face reassured her that he was overwhelmingly happy. She watched for a while longer but was eager to spend some time alone with Harry before the rest of the family descended on them and she eventually rose from the chair and walked over to them. She lifted James from her husband's arm, he reluctantly allowed him to go but watched as she rocked him gently and then laid him in the basket, picking it up she set off towards the bedroom door, "Where are you taking him?" Harry asked looking concerned.

"Kreacher will care for him tonight, I want to spend some time with you, alone," she answered, a shy tinge to her voice showed Harry that she was unsure what it would be like to be completely alone and he reaslied that she was as worried as he was about the amount of time they had been apart.

Kreacher agreed graciously to take care of the baby, he adored the small bundle and was always on hand to support and assist any way he could where James was concerned. Re-entering their bedroom Ginny smiled as she saw a tired looking Harry still sitting there on the bed, his eyes watering but a huge grin warming his face, "I'm a father," he said softly and she nodded, "He's so amazing, Ginny I can't believe you have given him to me." She crossed the room and placed her hand on his cheek, wiping away a stray tear of joy which had slid down it, "We gave him to each other," she replied, staring into those deep chocolate eyes again he pulled her down to sit on his knee, "How could I not be here for it all though?" Shaking her head she replied, "It doesn't matter Harry, you are here now."

"But I should have been here for you."

"You were here," she lifted the chain from around her neck which still held the small shining golden rock, "I had your love with me all the time, I knew you loved me and that you would come back to both of us, and I had James." She smiled sweetly and he fell in love with her all over again, she had waited for him again, even though he had been gone for such a long time, and she had given him the most precious gift of all.

"Ginny Potter, I love you so much," he whispered reaching up to place a soft kiss on her lips, she moaned quietly and followed his head movement with her lips as he pulled it away to continue speaking, "When I had my memory wiped you refused to leave me," she looked at him with a confused expression and waited for him to explain. "Almost as soon as I woke up properly I began seeing your deep brown eyes, they were filled with pain and loneliness," he reached up to brush a tendril of hair out of them and she moaned again at his soft touch. "They kept coming into my dreams and trying to reach me, your love kept trying to knock down the wall of darkness that had built up in my brain, slowly your face began to appear and your eyes seemed to plead with me, I fell in love with them even though I didn't know who they belonged to, but they were yours, you never gave up on me Gin."

He was still stroking her face and she leaned in to his touch, enjoying the intimacy, she had missed it so much, "I didn't," she responded, "They told me you were dead but I refused to believe it I knew in my heart that if you were dead, I would know." He smiled at her words, he knew how much she loved him but to refute what the Ministry had told her showed him just how much she did and how far she would go for him. She could have accepted it and attempted to move on with her life, but she had chosen not to believe it and he knew that somehow her faith in him was what kept her eyes burning in his mind, if she had given up then he would never have seen them. "And the rock," she concluded, "It never stopped burning so I knew you were still out there and you still loved me."

"The rock will never stop burning Ginny, even if I die, it will only stop when my love for you stops and that is never going to happen, believe me," he said placing his forehead against hers "But thank you for believing in me, I was suddenly so worried when everything came back to me that you would have moved on or forgotten me, I've been gone for such a long time, and I would not have blamed you if you had."

"Harry," she smiled at him again and reached up to cup his face in her hands, "How many times do I have to tell you that I will never move on from you? I told you that before the wedding when you told me to do just that, there will never be anyone else in my life but you, even if something ever happens to you. I couldn't ever love anyone the way I have loved you and it would not be worth being with someone if I did not feel the way I do about you. And anyway I had constant reminders of you," he looked confused so she patted her stomach and smiled again, "He was a restless baby!" Harry looked downcast again, "I missed it all," he said.

"You'll be there for the next one," she whospered kissing him on the nose and he beamed up at her.

"You want more?"

"Definitely, I love being his mother!"

"But what about the labour, I wasn't there, who…?" she began to bite her lip nervously as he drifted off, he knew this was something she did when she was afraid to tell him something, "Gin?" he ventured as softly as he could, he would not be angry with her for anything.

"I went into labour here, when we returned from the Burrow on Boxing day, my Mum had invited Dean over."

"Dean?" he asked a slight tinge of jealousy in his voice.

"No, not like that," she assured him but the look stayed in his eyes for a while longer, "He, well when he heard that you were…you know, he wanted to say how sorry he was, he ran into Hermione and suggested we all met up, and she thought it would look better for me if I was seen in public so people wouldn't begin to get suspicious about what we were doing here, so when he owled and asked if I wanted to catch up I couldn't see the harm. Anyway we met up a few times, but never like that, never, you have to know I wouldn't..." she looked into his eyes with wild scared ones of her own, did she really think that he would think she had done something with Dean? He smiled at her reassuringly, "Ginny, I trust you," he grinned, she seemed to relax before she carried on, "Well Mum invited him for Boxing day tea and insisted that he see me back to the house because Charlie was away, Ron and Hermione were spending the night at home and Kreacher was at Hogwarts. I tried to tell her it wasn't necessary but you know what she's like, but then when we got back here I went into labour, I had been aching all day but just took it as the weight and strain on my back, Dean was there to help me, I wouldn't let him leave so he…he delivered James before he went to get Mum." Harry nodded and she added, "I'm sorry," as tears began to fall down her face.

"Gin," he crooned stroking her back and pulling her close so he could hold her in his arms, "Why are you crying? Please don't be silly, I'm not angry, not at you," she looked quizically at him as he wiped the tears from her face, "I'm angry at myself for not being here and I'm just grateful that someone was there for you, I must thank Dean when I see him."

She was amazed at his understanding, although she could still see a slight tinge of envy in his eyes, "I kept calling for you and I think Dean thought I was delirious! I wanted you here because I was so scared, but I knew you would have been there if you could have, you had not left me on purpose and I clung to the rock knowing that if I couldn't have you there I had that knowledge that you loved me."

"My brave girl," he replied smiling and staring into her eyes, "You went through all that pain and – wait, did you say Boxing day?"

"Yes," she responded a curious expression crossing her face, "Why?"

"The night after boxing day, you woke me up."

"How could I...?"

"Your eyes, they haunted my dreams all the time but that night they woke me in the middle of the night, I had seen different emotions in them all the time and they had even stopped me from doing something I..." he stopped at this and looked into her face, could he tell her about what almost happened with Annala?

"Go on," she pushed.

"Nothing I, I had seen lots of emotions but that dream it woke me up, I saw them filled with fear and physical pain but also excitement, I couldn't understand why they would show me those emotions but it must have been James." He looked away and she caught her breath, "I don't know how, but you were trying to reach me and you did it, you told me that something was happening, how could I not have known that you needed me?"

"Because your memory wasn't there, Harry please stop punishing yourself for this, you couldn't have known, there is nothing you could have done. You are here now, that is all that matters."

"Why are you always so understanding when I mess up?"

"What?"

"When I mess up, I keep leaving you and causing you so much heartache, I did it years ago when I left with Ron and Hermione, I did it before the wedding and I did it ten months ago and missed the birth of my child, but you always forgive me Ginny, what did I do to deserve you?" he looked at her longingly, realising that he had missed her so much even though he had not really known it.

"You loved me, that's all you need to deserve me, I would forgive you anything a thousand times because I would rather have you doing these things you think are so terrible than not have you in my life at all."

"Ginny, don't ever let me leave you again," she smiled and shook her head at him. "I mean it," he continued grabbing her by the shoulders, "I promise you now that I will never ever leave you again, not even to go shopping, I want to be by your side for the rest of my life, I want to share every little change in James and in any other children we may have, and if we do then I am going to be there for everything. I'm going to drive you crazy by being there every tiny step of the way!"

"Hey watch it, my Mum was bad enough, if you're worse than her I'll send you away!" Tears welled in her eyes again though as she realised what he was saying, she would never ask him to do that but she was so touched that he would do it for her, "But what about your job?"

"I don't think I'll be any good at it now I have an injury," he indicated his knee and she frowned, "And besides I don't know what happened yet, but they were obviously not trying to find me were they? You think I will ever leave you again and do something for them? Never, I have something much more important in my life now, you were right when you said before I left that I've done enough, it's time I became a normal wizard, one with a wife and a family and questions like, can I pay the bills? And will our son be in Griffindor?" she beamed at him and chuckled loudly, never wanting or expecting him to put her and their child first but ecstatic that he was actually going to do that. "I'm going nowhere," he said. She leaned down to kiss him again on the lips and he responded gently but with a passion which showed clearly just how much he had missed her, using her weight she gently pushed him backwards onto the bed and they turned in towards each other as her hands began to run up and down his back and across his chest, he groaned at her touch but seemed hesitant to return the gesture, placing his hands on her waist but leaving them there while she continued to stroke him, Ginny pulled away to look in his troubled eyes.

"What's the matter Harry?" she asked gently afraid that he didn't want to touch her.

"It's just been a long, I mean I've been away such a long time I didn't know if you wanted me to-" she silenced him with another passionate kiss and pulled his hands along her body, placing one on her breast and the other on her thigh, she pulled him into her again and continued the kiss, breathing shallowly she whispered, "Make love to me Harry." All worry and fear that she may not want him melted away at her words and his hands slowly explored every inch of her body, trying to remind himself about what he had forgotten, there were changes to it from the pregnancy and he found each one intriguing, she pushed his hands under her shirt and he touched her bare breast and nipples, her breath caught in her throat and she moaned softly, Harry echoed her moan as he moved his hands round her body and traced circles on her back. He allowed her to unfasten the trousers he was wearing and she slipped her hand inside them. He rolled her over onto her back and leaned up on his elbow, gazing down into her eyes again he slid his hand back up her shirt, he watched the expression on her face change to one of pleasure as he ran his fingers over both breasts again before leaning down to kiss her gently on the lips, she grabbed his hair in her hands and pulled his head towards hers making their kiss deeper and more passionate.

After a few minutes he sat up and began to unbutton the blouse she was wearing drinking in the changes to her body which intrigued him, she had put on a little weight around the middle where she still had a small amount of baby weight, but she had been so slim to begin with that it just made her appear curvier than she had before. He also noticed that her breasts had grown, something he had to comment about and she chuckled back at him, when she was completely naked he sat back and stared at her, remembering every detail of her body as if he had never seen it before, "I always knew you were beautiful Ginny, but you take my breath away," she smiled at him again. He discarded his own clothes quickly and she noticed immediately that his body was thinner than it had been and his cheeks had hollowed slightly, but she still found him as strong and masculine as she always had, he laid himself between her legs and she touched his chest with her hands sliding her fingernails down it and causing him to moan again. She tenderly pulled him down on top of her and guided him inside her, he took her gently, tentatively and they both gasped before moving together as one as if they had never been apart, moaning and rasping their breaths until they both reached ecstasy and began to slow their movements. Moments later they laid side by side on the bed, legs entwined along with their fingers, both of them tracing the outline of the others' body with their fingernails, neither wanting to let the other go. Tomorrow could wait, the others could wait, all that mattered was that they were together again, "I love you Harry," she whispered and kissed his shoulder softly.

"I love you too, Ginevra Potter, mother of my child," he propped himself up on his elbow again and gazed down at her haunting eyes.

Neither of them slept throughout the whole night, they just lay in bed caressing and kissing each other, making love again and filling each other in on the last ten months of their lives, Harry painfully relived the experience of having no memory explaining what had happened to him while he was with Annala and how she had hindered his progress with the potions. She had asked him what he had been about to say earlier about her eyes stopping him and he had told the truth knowing he should never hide anything from her. "I was in a dark place Ginny, I thought I was a bad person and I had given up on everything, I couldn't see a reason for anything anymore and she came to me," he paused and looked at her face as his eyes began to brim with tears, he was desperate not to hurt her but needed to be truthful too. "She kissed me and began to undress me," the tears feel down his cheeks and he saw something in her eyes, a tinge of jealousy but also understanding. "She wanted me to...and I would have," he swallowed guiltily and she looked aghast, "But once we were...naked I threw her to the floor, I was angry at myself, at my situation and I had a sudden flash, a flash of being angry and lustful and pushing another, more beautiful body to the floor, your body. And I knew it was wrong, that I didn't want to be doing it with her, I wanted that beautiful body with the bottomless eyes and the flaming red hair, this one here in front of me, so I couldn't do it, I pushed her away and she left."

Ginny had listened to him without saying a word, feeling envious of the girl who he had touched in the way that he touched her, who had kissed and caressed him the way she, and only she should do so, but when he had explained why he had stopped, that she had been the reason she had realised that he was not Harry then, he had not known who she was then, but his love for her had still stopped him from taking it any further. He had looked at her imploringly when he had finished, afraid to touch her, afraid of her reaction to what he had said and scared that she would reject him but knowing that he had had to tell her the truth. She leaned up and kissed him, wiping away the fresh tears and assuring him that it was alright. Her eyes were full of forgiveness and he realised once more what an amazing person she was.

He had finished his story explaining how he had managed to strengthen his knee and escape from the shack, and watched carefully for her reaction when he told her that Lestrange had been the one leading them all. She had flinched slightly at his name but listened to the rest of the story before giving her own. She told him about the meeting with Drindle and how they had known that something didn't add up. Going on to explain how Hermione and Ron had sneaked into his office under the invisibility cloak collecting important information which proved that there had been a cover up. Harry was outraged at the way it had been dealt with, and was even more shocked when she continued with the whole story about their subsequent search for him, the wand spell which had wiped out Hermione and the story Abery had told them when he was strong enough to talk. He knew he had the best friends anyone could ask for when he realised how much they had done for him again, and for Ginny, and he would be eternally grateful to everyone who had helped her. As Harry had been truthful with her about Annala, Ginny decided to tell him about Dean's kiss, she told him tentatively afraid that he would become jealous and be angry at her, or worse at him, but he took it graciously knowing that he had done something much worse even though he had not been himself at the time.

"Ginny," he said stroking her hair and still looking into those eyes, "You are a beautiful woman, and as far as he was concerned a widow, I can understand why he might have thought…I cannot say I am pleased about it, but I trust you implicitly and though you keep assuring me that you never would, if anything had happened to me, or ever does I would not want you to be alone for the rest of your life. I am happy that you believed I was still out there and waited for me, but I would not have blamed you had you trusted Drindle and moved on with your life."

"I could never do that!" she exclaimed.

"I know, and that's another reason why I love you so much."

As the sun came up on a brisk January morning the couple were disturbed by a soft rapping at the door, "Come in," Ginny called and a scared looking Kreacher opened their bedroom door. "Sorry to disturb you Mr Potter, Mrs Potter, but James is wanting a feed Mistress."

"Thank you Kreacher," she smiled at the worn elf, "I shall be there shortly and thank you for taking care of him last night." The elf bowed low and almost touched the floor with his nose before turning and leaving the two lovers alone again, "I'll go and bring him," she sighed and left Harry alone, returning a few moments later carrying their son , Harry could not resist the urge to gaze at him again, as she began to peel back the nightgown she had pulled over her head before leaving the room, "Can I watch?" he asked timidly and Ginny smiled brightly.

"Harry we are your family, you do not need to ask such a thing, of course," she smiled at him dazzlingly as she sat on the edge of the bed and put the infant to her breast to feed, he gazed at them and became mesmerised by something he had never imagined would be pleasant or even interesting to watch, but he found he could not take his eyes off his beautiful wife nurturing their son in such a loving and natural way. He sat down on the bed next to her and stared into his little face, the boy's eyes were looking up at the new man with the raven coloured hair and the strange scar on his forehead, "This is your Daddy," Ginny crooned as Harry placed one arm around her and the other gently on his son, "And he's going to stay with us now, for always." Harry couldn't help but wipe a tear from his eyes at her words, it was the absolute truth, now he had seen this wonderful sight he knew he would never be able to leave, what amazed him most was that he had ever had the strength to leave Ginny in the first place, it was a mistake he was determined never to make again.

The Weasleys arrived around lunchtime, Charlie could hold them off no longer and had made floo connections to Grimmauld Place available for all of them. He had gone to Ron and Hermione's first to tell them Harry had returned, Hermione had sobbed while Ron sagged in a chair, relief washing over his face, too stunned to speak. His sister in law had then jumped up immediately demanding to be taken to the house but Charlie had been adamant that the couple needed some time alone, especially as Harry had to be introduced to his son, and Hermione had reluctantly agreed. He had then visited the Burrow, Shell Cottage and Weasleys Wizarding Wheezes, all in the space of about half an hour and broken the good news to the rest of his family before apparating to Luna and Neville's home to share it with them. They had all wanted to visit straight away and it had taken a lot of persuasion on his part for most of them to allow Harry and Ginny one night alone. Molly had been beside herself, desperate to see him and make sure that he was real, she had argued with Charlie until she was blue in the face but eventually he had turned to her and said, "You can't get there without an invitation or floo appointment so you might as well stop arguing because I am giving you neither!" She had not taken kindly to being spoken to in that way by her son but a few gentle words from her husband had made her see sense and she had reluctantly agreed to wait until the next day.

They arrived one by one, all from the Burrow where they had congregated earlier in the morning laughing and crying and sharing their relief that he had returned, and made their way to the sitting room where Harry was sat with his wife by his side and his son in his arms, he was almost crushed by both Molly and Hermione who cried buckets when they finally laid eyes on him, but a sharp wail of protest from James had made them back off. Ginny was also sure she saw a few red headed boys wiping away the tears too but she didn't say anything about it straight away deciding to remember it for another occassion. Kreacher ran around making drinks and food for everyone and Harry felt like he was at a party in honour of him, a party which he did not feel he deserved, but the Weasley's would never see it that way.

Hermione cornered him eventually and he thanked her profusely for all the help she had given Ginny and for the selfless way she had risked her own health to find him, Ron had appeared as if on cue at that point and he had reiterated the thanks apologising for almost taking Hermione away from him. "You think I had a choice when it came to you?" he asked in an amused tone. "She'll do anything for you, mate!" Harry looked ashamed that his best friend thought his wife would do so much for him, "And I wouldn't have her any other way," he added seeing the look on both of their faces then hugging them separately, "It's good to have you back, mate!" Ron finished holding Harry in a hug slightly longer than was expected for two men, but showing just how worried he had been about his best friend. Harry felt good just seeing them all, he had never had a real family of his own who cared for him, but he had been fortunate enough one day around thirteen years ago to befriend a red-headed boy who may not have come from the richest family in the world but from a family who were rich in love, something Harry still knew was the most powerful magic in the world. He looked around the room at all the people who just kept staring at him, some afraid to blink in case he disappeared again, and his eyes settled on his new family in the corner, the one he was determined to focus all of his energies on now and extend as much as his wife would let him.

A few days later Harry was sat in the kitchen with Charlie who had just passed him that day's edition of the Prophet laughing and gesturing for him to read it, Ginny had saved the articles about him that had been written in his absence and they had shared a few gripes and laughs about Rita Skeeter, they had been waiting since the previous day to see what she would say after Harry and Abery had turned up at the Ministry and caused a bit of a fuss. He looked down at the headline which read, _THE BOY WHO LIVED LIVES AGAIN, _then settled himself in the chair to continue the article.

_Well folks we were all mourning the loss of the wizarding world's saviour only a few short months ago, but it appears a Ministry cover up hid the fact that he was in fact alive, though not so well, all the while. Yes it is true loyal readers and devoted fans of our hero, a Ministry insider shared information with me today that our very own Harry Potter entered the Ministry only yesterday to announce that he was in fact alive and that the whole incident in Romania had been a Ministry cover up because they had been working with an unknown double agent. Our hero and his colleague Simon Abery, who had also been reported missing presumed dead on the same mission, walked into the Ministry at nine o clock yesterday morning and caused quite a stir! As you can imagine it was at first believed that they were two wizards under the influence of polyjuice potion, but once inside the auror office they were treated to many magical reversal spells to ensure they were in fact the two missing and presumed dead wizards. _

_It was an embarrassing situation for the head of the auror office, Alistor Drindle, especially as the Minister for Magic himself, Kingsley Shaklebolt, was in the office when it was announced that the two aurors were in fact alive and well. Upon hearing that the department had covered up the whole debacle the Minister immediately sacked the head of the auror office, Alistor Drindle, as it was confirmed by Abery that he had in fact been trying to cover up the whole incident. There are no reports yet as to what happened to the double agent, Croft, who was originally reported dead, but evidence from Abery has shown that he may have got away. Shaklebolt announced plans later in the day to re open the investigation and asked Harry himself if he would head up the investigation as the new head of the auror office. However in a surprise turn of events our hero and saviour of the wizarding world declined the offer stating that he was retiring from the auror department in favour of spending time with his wife and new son, Master James Sirius Potter, born just a month ago while the young wizard was still missing. But don't worry readers this reporter is hot on the heels of the recently revived young wizard and will be sure to catch up with the man in question soon and discover his plans for the future!_

"Well I bet she's happy to have her 'star story' alive and well again, I think her career was starting to dry up when you disappeared mate," Charlie chuckled over the coffee Kreacher had just placed in front of him, "Although I did have a bet on with Ginny as to how long it would be before the 'Life and Woes of Harry Potter' was on the stands!" Harry guffawed at his brother in law as he flicked through the rest of the Prophet's news.

"I'm sure it'll still be out one day," he replied, "I don't much care anymore! She can do what she likes, there are more important things in life, she'll get bored one day when she realises all I do now is change nappies and burp my son, not quite as exciting as killing dark wizards and chasing death eaters, but," he looked lovingly at his wife who was sat in a chair by the fire bouncing their son on her knee, "That's all I'll be doing for the foreseeable future, and if she doesn't like it, tough!" Ginny beamed at her husband, she was seriously looking forward to having a normal life with her new family and knew that Harry would never feel stifled by their new life, he seemed to have slipped into it willingly and without any regret at turning down the head aurors job which Kingsley had offered him. Ginny had inspected the injury to his knee and confirmed that it would never heal completely as it had been affected badly by all the hindering potions that Annala had used on it. Though he would lose his limp in due course the joint would never be strong enough to cope with the rigours of an auror's life and Harry was absolutely fine with that as long as he could ride on his broom chasing snitches with his son.

"I think our little man needs changing!" Ginny winced, "I'll be back shortly," she added kissing Harry on the head as she left the room making him smile happily, she had hardly left his side since he had returned and he was hoping that she never would. "Charlie," he coughed when the door had closed behind her and the elder Weasley looked up from his cup of coffee, "I just wanted to say thanks, you know for taking care of Ginny while I was gone, I know how hard it must have been for her and after everything she went through before the wedding too I feel so bad to have done this to her again. But knowing that she had you here looking after her has been such a relief to me now, and I want to assure you that I'm never going anywhere without her again, not even the bathroom if I can help it!" The two men laughed heartily before Charlie replied, "Harry, you know we will always look out for our little sister even if you are glued to her side! That's something you never need to worry about, no matter what happens, and anyway it was great staying here instead of at the Burrow for a change, I mean I love my mum but she can crowd you!" he joked and Harry nodded in agreement. "Listen, I can go back to work anytime I want to so I'll be out of your hair in a couple of days."

"There's no need to rush you know," Harry replied quickly not wanting to push out the person who had looked after his wife for the last nine months.

"I know mate, but I think you and Gin need to be alone, and besides you have James now too and you need to be a real family together, without a single loner hanging around."

"Charlie, you can stay here anytime you want to mate," Harry responded reaching over and shaking the older man's hand just as Ginny bustled back through the kitchen door, "What are you two conspiring?" she asked quizzically handing James over to Harry who began to bounce him on his knee.

"Nothing, Harry was just trying not to throw me out of the house!"

"What?" she gasped looking at her husband suspiciously as his eyes flew from sister to brother, "What...no..I..I said you were welcome to stay," his eyes narrowed as the two siblings began to laugh heartily and he realised he was being wound up. "Anyway Charlie, you'll always be a proper member of this household."

"How do you mean?" he replied questioningly.

"Well you are the only Weasley who can get in without an appointment and much as I love your family almost as much as Ginny, you are the only one who will ever have that privilege!" They all sniggered again as Charlie added, "I don't blame you mate!"

Harry looked around at his wife then beaming down at the two of them and realised he was truly happy, he had everything he had ever wanted in his life. At that moment the raven haired wizard suddenly remembered what Dumbledore's portrait had said to him on the morning of his wedding, that he now had a new destiny to carve out for himself, one with his beautiful wife and his wonderful son and any more little Potters who came along. He was happy just to be a husband and a father for the rest of his life, he had done all he was going to do for this world and he was happy now to just fade into obscurity covered in nappies and baby sick and swaddled in the arms of his loving wife with the deep and haunting, chocolate brown eyes.

**Okay, almost the end! The conclusion to this story but there is a small epilogue to follow. Please review if you have enjoyed my story, it has been wonderful to read what people have said and suggested throughout this one and I've been grateful to this who have reviewed. It was nice to know that some people liked that i have done so many sequels but I really feel this may be the end, I don't know if I can take it any furthur now, though if anyone has any suggestions I could work on/combine I may take up writing again!! I ahev enjoyed writing these stories and loved the feedback I have recieved from you all! Thank you and almost goodnight, look out for the epilogue!!**


	23. Epilogue

Epilogue

The birth of Harry's daughter was one of the most magical days he had ever experienced, their two sons, James and Albus, were staying at the Burrow with their grandparents when Ginny went into labour and Harry was there for every single moment of it, she was determined to give birth at home as she had with her sons and he had agreed reluctantly knowing how stubborn she could still be. He held her hands and soothed her by helping her to breathe and encouraging her to push when she needed to, he had sent his patronus for Luna who had agreed to help deliver the baby and she helped them both through the whole process. Just as he had been when Albus was born, Harry had been amazed at Ginny's strength and still a little angry at himself for not being with her when James was born, a million times he had wanted to take the pain away for her but she had appeared to take it in her stride and he had been in awe of her.

After just three hours this time Luna had handed over the tiny screaming baby girl to Harry and his heart had melted completely, he knew at that exact moment that he had met the only other girl in the whole world he would love as much as the exhausted but still beautiful woman laying on the floor beside him. This little bundle in his arms was going to cause him so much happiness and probably as much heartache but he knew his life was complete.

"Lily?" Ginny croaked smiling up at him, he had that awestruck look on his face again and she loved it.

"Really?" he asked absolutely bewildered at her suggestion, they had decided to wait until the baby was born to pick a name this time, Ginny had named their eldest being that Harry did not even know about the child until he was a month old and she had insisted that Harry name their second son. Albus Severus had been named after their former headmaster and potions master, Harry had been worried about suggesting the middle name but Ginny had agreed knowing that it was important to him and feeling that it was a fitting tribute to the man who had tried to save his life though unknown to Harry until it was too late.

"I've been thinking about it for a while," Ginny said breathlessly, "I thought you would like it."

"I love it darling, but we have named all our children for me, shouldn't we think about you now?"

"We named our children for the people who were important to us, I think it only fitting that she be named for your mother, and what about Luna?" she asked tentatively afraid that he would not like it.

"A wonderful idea I think, she has now been here for two of our children's births! Lily Luna Potter!" he shrieked, "I love it!" Ginny had chuckled at his enthusiasm and Luna had turned to look at them, "Why that's like my name, only without the Lily," she had said and they had laughed at her.

Harry had then smiled down at the wonderful woman he was married to as he passed their daughter over for her first feed, "You are the most wonderful person I have ever known Ginny Potter, you have given me more love than I ever deserved, three wonderful children and a life I never thought I would be able to have." She smiled at him as he leaned down to kiss her forehead, a squeal from their daughter told them that she was going to be like her mother but he didn't care, he smiled in awe at the sight of Ginny nurturing another child as he rose to leave.

"I'd better go to the Burrow and tell them they have a sister, I don't think James will be happy he wanted another brother, 'Girls are silly,' was the phrase I got when I left them last night!"

"Go," she whispered, "Mum will be beside herself, put her out of her misery!" she chuckled at him and he returned the laugh, "They'll be descending before you know it."

"Bring them on!" she replied laughing again at her husband as he left the room to floo to the Burrow.

The Weasleys did descend on Grimmauld Place all at once, baby Lily was passed from brother to brother before Molly got her hands on the infant and then no one was getting a look in, Ron and Hermione had their daughter Rose in tow and she was mesmerised by the tiny sleeping form in her grandmother's arms, Hermione was pregnant and the little girl was anxious to have a baby brother or sister to 'play with' as she called it, and was obviously intent on using her cousin Lily as practice for the time being. They all thought the name was a fitting tribute to Harry's mother and silenced his protests that she should be named for a Weasley, "Nonsense Harry," Arthur had argued, "Besides if it's what Ginny wants you know she'll dig her heels in and have it anyway! You have made us proud by becoming one of us and giving us three more fantastic grandchildren, so stop trying to please us more alright?" He patted the shoulder of the boy whom he had begun to look upon as his own son, he could not have been prouder of Harry if he had been a real Weasley and he loved and respected the boy who had made all of his family so happy as if he truly was his own.

Harry took a moment to sit back and look at what was in front of him, he had never had a happy childhood and family of his own with love thrown around like chocolate but he was now a part of one of these families, now he did have a family of his own and he was determined that they would all know the most powerful magic of all, no matter what happened to him or their mother, they would be loved by all of the people in this room and they would have the love of their parents with them wherever they went.

THE END!

**Goodnight and God bless to the Potters, my story and my readers. Thank you all for making this worthwhile!**


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